The team traveled west in hopes of reaching the shores. From there, they could find a town and organize a better form of transportation. Everyone was tired and restless after the events that transpired recently. Now with a smaller party, their moods were at an all-time low. And with that much negative emotions, the Grimm started coming.

"I can hear them slowly approaching," Yangochi informed the group.

"I can take care of that," Vivian said and activated her semblance.

"We can help," Nina proposed, but Vivian just smiled back.

"You had a lot on your hands when I couldn't help. Let me take care of this while you all rest. You all deserve this." With that, she rushed, clearing the nearby Grimm.

For a few days, Vivian was the only one to fight while the others recuperated and took care of their injuries. Thanks to her commitment, most of the team was back on their feet and with high spirits. Especially Gran could not wait until the next encounter. In those few days, Nina and Neil took care of Gran's Crimson Tide and Amethyst's Vucub Caquix and fixed them up. Nina tried to inspire Neil's creativity and do something more with them, but he just helped with the repairs.

The accumulation of Grimm was getting smaller and smaller as the group felt better. However, Neil was still in pretty bad shape, and only Nina and Amethyst tried to cheer him up. While walking, he suddenly asked a question to the group:

"Do you guys think the journey is more important or the destination?"

"The company," Amethyst answered in a heartbeat.

Neil smiled briefly, but the smile faded as quickly as it appeared.

Raymond approached Vivian, who now led the group with Yangochi, who listened for any Grimm. He walked for a while by her side without a word.

"Yes?" Vivian smiled towards him, a bit puzzled at his intentions.

"I was thinking," he started, considering what exactly to say. "I feel like I'm lagging behind, and I wanted to ask: can we train together?"

She raised her eyebrow. Raymond asking for training was the last thing she expected. "Why would you need training? You're like the best fighter among us."

"But I still am not good enough to fight real Huntsmen…" His eye glared with anger.

Vivian's smile widened. "So the great and almighty Raymond, the one who recently almost won the Mistral Regional Tournament, wants training lessons from me?"

"Tsk, if you don't want to help, just say so," he started to walk away, clenching his fists, but Vivian blocked his escape with her semblance.

She pulled him closer and looked in his eye. "I didn't say no."

"Can you stop? With such an elevated heartbeat, I can't hear the Grimm," Yangochi said.

Vivian giggled. "The next time we take some time to rest, we may practice a bit."

Raymond just nodded and returned to the rest of the group. The forest was still thick, and they moved rather slowly through it, always at a constant threat from the Grimm. Granola wanted to get back into action, constantly reminding everyone that they will be Huntsmen, and fighting Grimm is their job. However, Vivian still felt like they needed more rest, which didn't sit well with the Faunus for obvious reasons. He walked next to Nina, growling with every exhaling breath. His blood was slowly boiling, but Nina holding his hand calmed him down. At least a bit.

The night was dawning, and the group stopped to take a break from the march. Gran's aggressive growling could be heard by everyone, and it was getting on Yangochi's nerves. It distracted him from listening to the nearby Grimm. Neil, who didn't exchange a word with anyone for the past few days, noticed Nina's partner's mood and sat next to them.

"Hey, Gran. Can you help me with something?" He asked and pulled out his guitar. "I was thinking of some song for the past few days, and I can't really play it with just one hand."

The boy was puzzled for a while but nodded and took the guitar. It was fairly beaten up, but it still had a nice, clean tone to it. The Faunus tuned it and played a few notes to see if it works properly.

"Can you play D suspended second, C major, A sharp major seventh, and then come back to C major?" Neil seemed much more focused now than he was for the past few days.

Granola was a bit confused as he did not know music theory as well as Neil. However, after some encouragement and guidance, he was able to play those chords. "What next?" He asked.

"Then we will have the bridge. Go with A sharp into C major and finish with D. But let's make those chords linger a bit longer than in the verse."

"Right," Gran tried a few versions and timings until Neil was satisfied with the version he played. "What next?"

"Then we go to the chorus. Why don't you try playing power chords of F, C, G, and A sharp."

The player followed the instructions, and with the finished progression, he played the whole thing to see how it sounds together. Neil seemed really excited, but it was still far from his former self. He rushed the guitarist to play the whole thing again while he tries out the lyrics. Gran started playing again, now more confident in the progression. Neil began to sing, his tenor resonating with the melody of the guitar.

I'll always remember

What you told me

Never listen to authorities

Find your own way

Among the stars

Find your path

And don't give up

And I will always be there

And I will always

Guide you with my light

Across the burning skies

Just follow the path of a shooting star

And You will find me in your eyes

I'll always be your guide

Just follow the path, and you will go far.

When he sang, "…You will find me in your eyes," his voice trembled, but he finished the song in its entirety. Nina looked enamored by how the two worked together even though Gran wasn't that great of a guitarist. However, it was clear to see he was very talented. And what mattered the most to her, it calmed him down.

"That's a lovely song," she concluded, looking at the two boys.

Gran held the guitar in his hands, looking at it intently. His eyes glued to the instrument started to change. Something bubbling over inside him that he could not control. With a sudden burst of anger, he smashed the guitar on the nearest tree with a guttural scream of rage.

Everyone in the camp looked towards what was happening. Both Nina and Neil jumped on their feet with fear in their eyes. "Gran!" Nina came closer to him with the intent of calming him down, but he started punching the tree that he smashed the guitar on.

"Why… do… I… feel… so… useless…" Gran screamed a word after every punch. When he stopped, he grasped his head in his hands.

Nina embraced the huge Faunus. She understood his feelings and problems better than anyone in the group. "You're allowed to feel vulnerable. That's completely natural to rely on others from time to time, and you don't have to feel ashamed of it."

His anger made way for guilt. He felt shame about his outburst. "I'm sorry, Neil… I'll pay you for the guitar."

"Don't mention it." Neil was terrified. No one on the team SYAN ever saw him like that.

Nina lift up her head to look Gran in the eyes. They reflected his conflicted feelings, but his anger was contained. He noticed that she was looking at him, and he smiled. He closed in to kiss her.

Vivian heard the entire conversation, and Nina's words also resonated with her. She was focused so much on the fact that she felt useless and wanted to redeem herself that she forgot about everyone else's needs.

"So what with the training?" Raymond woke her up from her thoughts.

She smiled at him. "Are you ready?"

He just shook his head. "You can stop with the act. Let us get to the training."

She activated her semblance and prepared for the spar.

"I hope you won't go easy on me," Raymond took his combat stance. His right hand held his sword above his head while his left arm was extended towards his opponent.

"I don't plan on that," she said and started attacking him with everything she's got.

Ray was pushed to the defensive, deflecting and avoiding her aura tentacles to the best of his abilities. With each lash and jab, he was forced more and more back without the opportunity to retaliate. Vivian knew that if she gave him just one opening, he would use it to the full. Her strategy to overwhelm him with attacks was working until he activated his semblance. Ray's golden eye glimmered in the darkness, and to her surprise, the fighter avoided all of her tentacles, forcing his way to her. Like a snake, he got to her grabbing her hand and twisting it behind her back. She squirmed with pain but did not surrender yet. One of her semblance tentacles started to wrap around his neck, but with a slash of his sword, Ray forced it back.

"Ok, I surrender," Vivian gasped.

"It's not how I wanted to win," Ray said, sounding frustrated.

"What do you mean? You've won fair and square."

He let go of her and sat on a nearby rock. "I had to use my semblance."

So that was the problem, she thought to herself. "Listen, your semblance is a part of you and an asset. Why not use it?"

He looked into the distance. "My whole life, I relied on my own abilities, my own strength. This feels like a shortcut and not my own talent."

"But your semblance is your strength. It required your input, your growth to get to the point where you can use it. Be proud you got here instead of feeling like it's something given to you while you don't deserve it." Vivian was proud of those words. She felt like she hit the nail on the head with what Ray was thinking. However, his reaction wasn't what she expected.

"But I don't want it! It's a crutch! I don't want to rely on it and be given the answers during a fight. I want to beat the opponent on my own, and as long as I know I have this ability, it will always tempt me to just use it…"

"Sorry to intrude," Amethyst suddenly injected herself into the conversation, "but I have to give that one to Vivian."

Raymond rolled his eyes, "what do you know? Your semblance doesn't give you an unfair advantage in a fight."

"Well, it does give me an advantage," she raised her hand and flashed a bright light into the boy's eyes, blinding him briefly. "If it's fair is up to debate."

"Maybe if you explain what exactly your semblance does, then we can help you deal with whatever problems you have with it." Vivian looked at him with a gentle smile.

Ray thought for a short while and started explaining. "When I activate my semblance, I get my depth perception back. I can see clearly, but that is not the main power of it. I feel like the time slows down during it, and my mind quickly considers every possible outcome of the situation. All I have to do is just pick the right answer."

Vivian was intrigued by his explanation. "So, you say that your brain processes everything at the same time?"

"It seems like that, yes."

She smiled. "So, during your semblance, your brain works the same as mine!"

Ray was confused. "What do you mean by that?"

She jumped up and quickly activated her semblance. "You see, every single part of my semblance is controlled directly by me. I divide my attention among every single tendril and manage them manually. To do so, my brain works overtime to comprehend everything simultaneously so I can function like that. In time, considering everything at the same time became second nature."

One of her tentacles picked up a nearby rock and threw it to a separate one. Another one started writing Vivian in the ground. In contrast, two lower ones began to do a little wiggle resembling something akin to a dance.

Ray's eye widened, looking at the skill she developed. It was infuriating, knowing what she was capable of. Still, at the same time, thanks to her semblance, she developed a new ability. Maybe it wasn't the end of his growth but a new avenue to go even further beyond?

"That," he paused briefly, "was actually very helpful."

"Always glad to help," all parts of her semblance started to wiggle before disappearing. "If you want to continue training, you can always spar with Amethyst."

The lizard Faunus girl jumped with joy. "Oh, I'm always ready for some challenge."

The boy smiled. "Let's have a go then."

While Ray and Tautara continued the training session, Vivian went to Nina and Granola for a little chat. They both were sitting alone as Neil got further away from them.

"Gran, Nina," the leader stated, "the fatigue is getting to me, so I want you two on guard duty tonight. Think you can manage that?"

Gran raised his head, looking at her like a puppy who just heard someone opening a can of his favorite food. It was hard for Vivian not to chuckle at that sight.

"We sure can manage," he responded and looked at Nina, who chuckled herself. "Right?"

"Yeah," the Faunus girl ruffled his hair, "we can manage."

Vivian smiled, looking at the two in a good mood. "Great, It seems that Gran is now fully healed, so some exercise would do him good."

Nina mouthed thank you to her, and they both got ready for the watch. The leader herself prepared for the night, and when she lay down, she noticed how fatigued she really was. For the past few days, when she was the only one fighting and guarding their camps, she pushed herself to the absolute limit. When she closed her eyes, she fell asleep in an instant.

The Faunus pair went on to guard the camp. Slowly everyone else went to sleep, and they were the only ones on their feet. At some point, a few Beowolfs intruded on their space, and Granola was more than happy to dispose of them.

"Crimson Tide works like a charm," he stated, smiling at the weapon.

"Good to hear," Nina was glad that his weapon was back to working condition.

Suddenly, the boy's expression changed. "What do you think about Nachrichter?"

The sudden question surprised the girl, especially that she didn't want to think about the trio of Huntsmen they had to deal with. "To be completely honest, he was a very competent Huntsman and a skillful fighter. But I would never want anyone to be like him."

"I somewhat admired him," Gran started. "He was everything I imagined I would be as a full-grown Huntsman. I still don't understand why they would do what they did."

Nina remembered what he said under Neil's influence. They simply wanted Vivian for her semblance and were capable of killing the rest of them. What could push someone to those lengths?

"Do you think I can turn out like him?" Gran looked her in the eyes.

She considered her words. "I'm not going to lie to you. I think you might."

His expression was like stone, emotionless.

"But," she put her hand on his, "as long as I'm with you, I will never let you go down that path. I love you."

Gran brightened and embraced her. "I love you too."

It was common for Neil to feel out of place, but never when it came to his team. He was sitting alone and simply observed everyone from the group. Raymond and Amethyst were sparing and seemed to have fun doing so. Granola and Nina were on guard duty and patrolled the vicinity. Yangochi climbed a tree and looked like he was listening to anything suspicious, but Neil knew he just looked that way and was simply sleeping. Vivian was the first to fall asleep, and that was not surprising. She was working overtime for the past few days keeping the whole group safe. He also felt like sleep was something he needed right now.

When he closed his eyes and started to drift away into the clutches of slumber, a vision of his sister emerged. He woke up sweating. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dark, and he noticed that everyone except Nina and Gran was napping. A sharp sting of pain in his left arm made him realize that he used it to pull himself up when waking up. It was still in poor condition, but he could move it around. Probably a few more days, and he could fight again, even if that's not really advised.

Gran and Nina seemed to enjoy their time on guard duty. The Grimm were still circling around them, and from time to time, the Faunus pair had the opportunity to kill some of them. Neil could not shake the feeling that it was his fault that they were amassing around them. But how could he not feel the way he felt right now? It was just a few days ago when his sister was torn apart right in front of his eyes. He felt tears slowly dripping down his face. It all felt like it was just a dream, something that he just needed to wake up from. But it wasn't a dream, and the fact of her death filled him with anger. The rage he let out on the corpse of the Huntsman that killed her. It didn't bring her back, did it?

Was there a way to bring her back? If only he did something back there… If only he was stronger or more reliable. But there wasn't a way to do that. The grim reality of his situation hit him. He opened his backpack and pulled out his sister's weapons. Imhullu, two pickaxe crossbows that blades were able to retract to the handle. He remembered as he built them precisely to Scarlet's specifications. She wasn't really into the technical aspects of being a Huntress and relied on him for that. He pulled out his Kusarigama next and squeezed it in his palm. Tsukuyo, a weapon he relied on until today.

He pulled out all of his tinkering gear and started working. That weapon is not good enough, he thought to himself while thinking of ways to upgrade it. Right now, fighting with it required to use both hands. Was there a way to make it more reliable when he had only one?

"I'm sorry, sis," Neil said out loud while he broke Imhullu apart.

Using the elements he extracted, he was able to add a moving part to his Kusarigama that was able to shift the position of where the chain started. With a quick press of a button, the chain moved from the handle to the blade and vice versa. He sat for a while, still thinking if that was enough. He wanted to use the pickaxes in his fighting as well…

A sudden idea came to mind, and he quickly started working with Scarlet's weapons. He discarded one blade from each and wholly removed the crossbow capabilities. He then combined them both at the handles creating something akin to a chakram. The edges left were able to hide in the handle, making it more practical when out of combat and much easier to holster. Still, he wasn't really pleased with the results of his tinkering. He had two different weapons now when he wanted to make them whole…

Another idea that he rushed to make a reality. He prepared a hollowed-out fragment in Tsukuyo to fit in the upgraded version of Imhullu inside. The little engineer created a mechanism to quickly shoot out the chakram when he needed it. With this, he always had Imhullu at the ready if the situation called for it. He once again looked at his creation, now satisfied with the final effects. Neil also noticed that he spend the entire night working on the project, and everyone started to wake up.

"I see we have an early bird here," Raymond greeted Neil. "Want to go hunting with me?"

With evident confusion on his face, Neil agreed. It was a decent opportunity to check out his new gear in action. He once again looked at it, happy with how it turned out. Now, a part of her will always be with me to protect me went through his head. They both went hunting while the rest of the group packed everything up and prepared a fire to smoke the meat.

While everything was prepared and the group waited for Ray's and Neil's return, Amethyst was continually adjusting her hair. Vivian found that very funny and asked what that was about.

"It's too long!" She explained, annoyed. "I hate it this long."

"Now, when you mention that," Vivian realized herself that her hair was also much longer than she usually has. "Mine could use a trim as well."

When the hunters returned with a few small woodland creatures, they prepared a decent meal and headed west. The air had a specific scent to it that forbode rain.

"Hope we find some cave to maybe wait out the weather," Nina was hopeful.

However, Raymond had a different idea. "I don't think we have time to just wait out the rain. We should move forward as fast as we can."

"Don't you think there's much less Grimm now?" Gran noticed.

During their little spat, Yangochi was nervous. He felt a presence nearby similar to the one sensed earlier. Similarly to how he could sense people's aura, he also could notice Grimm's company as they were on the opposite spectrum. It was much easier with larger Grimm packs, as they felt like a giant void, sucking on everything around them. Just like a black hole devoid of any positive emotion. But now, he felt a single entity that overwhelmed the feeling of emptiness. And that something was now nearby.

"What's wrong, pal?" Amethyst noticed that Yangochi was uneasy. "Did something happen?"

He trembled for a short while before he gave them an exact explanation of what he felt. No Grimm he ever experienced had quite the same aura about them.

"So it's just another Grimm," Raymond dismissed the Faunus' warnings. "We will deal with that thing when it comes to that."

"I don't think you understand," the small Faunus boy said in his whispery monotone. "It seems like the thing is scaring other Grimm away. It's nothing like I've seen before."

"Hehe," Amethyst chuckled. "Seen."

"And that Grimm seems to be stalking us," the boy continued. "Watching…"

"As I said, we'll deal with it when it comes to that."

Vivian was thinking. "Based on your description, I don't know if I can decipher what Grimm that is. But Raymond is right here. We are seven capable fighters. I think we can handle even a stronger Grimm."

Yangochi nodded, but that did not make him calmer. The overwhelming nothingness that emanated from that Grimm was terrifying. And it was slowly getting closer.