A/N- (Looks at chapter length) Hoo boy... might have gone a bit overboard with this one. Probably should have split it in two, but... I think I've made you all wait long enough. Settle in folks, the long road to the finale continues...XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 30- MOONfall

(30 minutes earlier)

Oran stared crestfallen at the orange scarf crumpled up on the floor of Shade's hallways, Nichol's storming footsteps getting quieter and quieter as she went around the corner and out of sight.

This was usually the part were he'd laugh off what had just happened, or smile and shrug, maybe say something stupid to lighten the mood, but the young faunus didn't. He didn't feel like doing anything, he just turned on his heel, and walked back into team MOON'S dorm without a word.

Inside, Oreonna and Maybelle had risen from their spot on the former's bed. The commotion of Nichol's, and then Oran's, sudden exit having disrupted their study session. The orange haired faunus regarded his teammates with disinterest, in fact, nothing in the room seemed to spark any kind of an emotional response from him. It was like a heavy fog had settled over everything around the canine eared brawler. He just felt so... bleh.

"Oran?" the cow girl asked cautiously, "What's going on? Is Nichol alright?"

"She's fine..." The hyena faunus mumbled out a barely intelligible reply as he closed the door behind himself.

The two girls gave their teammates a strange look at the incredibly out of character, low energy response to the question. "And... are you okay?" Oreonna asked hesitantly.

Was he okay? Oran... didn't really know, he wasn't sure what he was feeling right now. He wasn't sick or anything, as far as he knew, and he didn't have any physical injuries, but for some reason his body just felt... heavy? His face especially, it was like his cheeks were sagging low or something.

Oh, he was frowning. That was new. No wonder May and Oreo were giving him those weird looks.

Oran didn't even bother answering his cat eared friends question, he just trudged over to his bed on the other side of the room and collapsed face fist onto it, a muffled sigh flowing shortly thereafter. He wasn't tired, it was more like the hyena boy just couldn't muster up the energy to do literally anything right now. Maybelle and Oreonna started talking with one another again, but Oran didn't even have the strength to listen at this point. He was content to wallow in his own misery, wondering where he went wrong in his quest to befriend Nichol.

There was a part of him that had wanted to chase his partner down, but all Oran had to do was picture that scarf falling to the floor, or the anger in Nichol's eyes as she'd called him the worst thing anyone could call one of his people. That was enough to convince him that it was probably a bad idea.

It wasn't like he was mad at her or anything, that emotion didn't really exist in Oran's lexicon. Hell, the silverette had punched him in the face once and he'd pretty much just shrugged it off like it was nothing. It just wasn't in the hyena boys nature to take that kind of stuff personally, especially since he was fully aware of how he could be a little... well, putting out politely, some would call his efforts "overly enthusiastic". He just couldn't figure out where this sudden extra hostility had come from. They'd only known each other for a few months now, sure, but Oran had thought that maybe...

Well, apparently it didn't matter what he'd thought. Nichol had been pretty clear in regards to how she felt about him during their little chat back out in the hallway.

Was he crazy? Well, yes, almost definitely, but regardless, did he misread things that badly? Nichol and himself had experienced... moments together, right? Times where it seemed like his partner was finally starting to come out of her shell, and was realizing it was okay for her to smile if she wanted to, that her world didn't have to be doom and gloom all the time. Oran just wanted her to be happy, that's all, but Nichol had rejected him, despite what they'd been through together.

Did all of it really mean nothing to Nichol? Initiation? Studying together? Fighting together? The Blood Oaks? Those nights in the Forge? Was all of that really just to keep Miss Evergreen at bay?

The fact that it wasn't an impossibility that Nichol was only pretending to get along with him made Oran wish his mattress would swallow him up completely. How could he have been so stupid?

However, there was one piece of evidence that kept the hyena faunus from surrendering to his linen covered fate, and that was the scarf.

Nichol had tossed it away like it was nothing, and yeah, that hurt pretty bad, especially after the weeks worth of work Oran had put into making it.

Brothers help him if anyone ever found out about it, but Oran was actually pretty good at knitting. It had started back when he got his first set of prosthetic arms. Ugh, he hated that first pair, they were oversized hand-me-downs with only eight working fingers, but they were the best his family could afford at the time. Anyway, the physical therapist the hyena boy had seen back in those days had suggested knitting as a way to help Oran get used to his new robotic appendages, claiming it would make it easier for him to learn to manage with his new "fingers". It worked, and not only was the practice a good way to get acquainted with his new normal, but the process also provided a bit of relaxation for the emotionally traumatized boy, and before long the therapeutic treatment became a hobby of his... an incredibly embarrassing hobby, one he was sure to keep hidden from everyone, a secret he was content to take with him to his grave, but a hobby none the less.

He'd actually made a lot of clothes over the years, mostly for himself, just for fun, and a few things for his mom on occasion, but he'd never made anything for anyone else before, until Nichol that is. However, this was the first time he'd ever tried weaving dust into clothing.

It wasn't anything fancy really, just a little bit of fire dust that reacted to temperature changes. If it got cold out, the scarf warmed up, and as it got hot out, it got less warm. Any first year student at any academy could probably do it, but it was where Oran had picked up the skill that really mattered.

The hyena faunus couldn't imagine tutoring him was easy, his attention span could only be measured in nanoseconds, but it was just the kind of task for someone with Nichol's tenacity. She kept him focused on his work like no one else, and while Oran had no way of confirming this, he also believed she actually kind of enjoyed the challenge it presented. It was strange at first, schoolwork had never really been the hyena boys strong suit, so when he actually started to improve as a result of his partners tutoring, he didn't really know how to feel.

'Gods, is this what it's like to have a normal, functioning brain?' he'd joked, trying, and failing, to get bring an elusive smile to Nichol's face.

While the experience of being tutored by his overly serious partner might not have shown much progress in the 'making her smile' department, it did bare fruit in the 'making knowledge actually stick in Oran's mind' field, and the one topic that really seemed to stick with him was dust weaving. So yeah, the whole scarf thing wasn't just him trying to be thoughtful, it was also the hyena boys way of showing Nichol all her hard work helping him hadn't been for nothing, that he'd actually been able to retain some of what he was taught. Not that he'd ever actually tell her about all of this. After all, what was the point of a gift if you just used it as an excuse to brag about it? Plus he... didn't really want the spear wielder to find out about his little hobby.

But getting back on topic, it wasn't so much the fact that his silver haired partner had thrown away the gift in anger that confused the young faunus, it was the fact that Nichol had worn the scarf for almost a full week before that.

She'd said she didn't care, that everything they'd been through was just a ruse to keep her from getting expelled, but then why bother keeping the article of clothing as long as she did? If it was a part of the act, then it was a pretty unpractical one, and if there was one thing Oran knew about Nichol, it was that the word practical described her to a tee.

No matter how much it seemed like Nichol had been aggravated and genuine with him back in the hall, that one detail kept baking his noodle. The scarf had been practically fused to the silverette's neck since she got it, so she couldn't have been wearing it just to appease Oran, otherwise she would have taken it off when he wasn't around, which as far as the hyena boy could tell, she didn't.

So... why lie about that? Why act like she didn't like her gift all of a sudden? The only obvious answer Oran could come up with was to hurt him, to push him away, which may not have been too out of character for the Nichol the hyena boy had known at the start of their time at Shade, but the sudden change seemed almost too bizarre. Why had she been so adamant to get him away from her tonight of all nights?

Ugh. Oran was not the type for all of this critical thinking, it made his head feel all woozy. Then again, that might have something to do with his head still being buried in his mattress. The lightheadedness was probably because he couldn't breathe right now, not surprising, considering he'd been laying there for almost fifteen minutes.

With a seemingly great deal of effort, the shaggy orange haired teen rolled his head to the side, allowing the precious oxygen his body needed to fill his lungs again. Unfortunately, this put Nichol's empty bed square in his sights, not helping his confused and depressed mood.

Maybe... maybe he had been crowding his poor partner too much lately. Maybe the best thing for Oran to do right now was to just give her some space, and once Nichol had cooled off, he could apologize. After all, the last thing the hyena faunus wanted was to-

It was then that Oran green eyes drifted to the floor, where he saw Nichol's scroll laying on the hardwood, still open and on. The scruffy haired boy vaguely remembered his teammate dropping the device just before she stormed off. Was it something she'd seen on there that had caused her to lash out so unexpectedly?

Heh. Maybe she saw a bad meme or something.

The ridiculous thought did help bring the near constant smile back to Oran's face, and with that he managed to find the strength to rise from his prone position on his bed. He hopped off his mattress and stepped over to where his partners scroll lay, bending over to pick it up to put it on the charger on Nichol's nightstand. In the background, he could hear Maybelle and Oreonna still talking on the other side of the room, but paid them no mind as he gently wrapped his mechanical hands around the misplaced device. He noticed the screen was still on the messenger app when he grabbed it. Oran didn't want to further anger his teammate with a breach of her privacy, but couldn't help but catch a glimpse of the single message on the screen as he went to close the scroll.

The hyena faunus froze solid at the words he saw, much like Nichol had upon first reading them moments ago.

Shade Academies Airship dock.

Fifteen minutes.

Or I kill everyone in that room with you.

-S

Oran did a double take as he read, then reread the words, again and again. What the hell was-

A loud boom echoed across the desert from outside team MOON's dorm window, accompanied by a flash of white, which got the attention of all the faunus who simultaneously turned at the sound.

"Was that... thunder?" Oreonna asked. The weather outside was a little cloudy, but there hadn't been any rain or anything in the forecast at all.

A fair guess, but the mechanically adept Oran knew the true source of the sound better than most; it was the sound of a dust engine overloading.

This, coupled with the threatening message he'd just found on Nichol's scroll sent the hyena boys thoughts into overdrive, panic exploding inside himself. Oran didn't waste a second firing up his gauntlets, the wind dust inside them surging throughout his prosthetics.

He barely even registered Oreonna and May's cries of shock as the orange haired boy blasted the dorms large window off its hinges and he leapt out into the night.

As Oran fell down the side of Shade Academy, shards of glass and small pieces of wood raining down alongside him, he stared off into the distance to where he knew the airship port was, his insides twisting at the sight of the large clouds of smoke billowing in front of it. With a well timed blast from his Gust Bracers, the hyena boy cushioned his landing and broke into a dead sprint as soon as his feet touched the ground.

With his naturally enhanced vision, Oran was able to make out a pair of figures in the distance as he approached his destination. As he got closer, the hyena faunus recognized the short silver hair and braids of the person on the ground as Nichol, which immediately made his panic grow, but that was nothing when compared to what Oran felt when the second figure came into view.

It wasn't often that Oran's thoughts went back to that horrible evening in his childhood, for obvious reasons, but his recurring nightmares made sure he never forgot what had happened the night his father had been killed. He still woke up some nights in a cold sweat after seeing that curving golden blade and that grotesque mask bearing down on him. He could only remembered the briefest flashes of pain as his hands and forearms were mutilated as he tried to defend himself in vain, but the moment would always stick with the young faunus, as would the 'face' of his fathers killer.

And that same face was staring down at his partner right now.

For about half a second, Oran's pace slowed, the fear he felt on that night all those years ago returning and gripping his chest and holding him back. He felt that familiar sting of pain in both of his hands at the sight of the man who'd maimed him, even though they were purely metal and circuitry now.

But then he thought about the exhausted, bloody smirk on his fathers face just before he scarified himself to save his son. He thought about how his mom had been too terrified to leave the house alone for years. Never mind the countless other people the man in front of him, and the rest of his group, had hurt that night they'd attacked Villa.

Oran's feet began moving faster towards his foe. Suddenly he didn't see the nightmares of his past taking human form, he just saw a monster, exactly the kind he'd come to Shade to learn to fight,

And this monster had made the practically suicidal decision of threatening another person he cared about.

Big mistake.

Oran reared back one of his fists as he finally arrived at the front of the airship port, before sending a huge burst of air from his Gust Bracer's right into the side of the masked man's face.


"O-Oran?" Nichol barely croaked out as she stared at her partner in disbelief, convinced her desperate mind was seeing things.

And yet, there he was, still dressed in the same orange t-shirt and shorts he'd been wearing in preparation for bed when the silverette had last seen him. What was he doing here?

Sterling rose to his feet, adjusting the mask over his face before turning to face the hyena faunus, holding up both Creeping Dread, as well as Nichol's spear, and letting out a scoff.

"Ignorant beast, what do you think you're-"

The silver haired man was cut off as another blast of air collided with his midsection, driving him back a few feet but not knocking him to the ground this time.

"I'm sorry, what part of my big dramatic entrance just now makes you think I came here to talk?" Oran said sternly, his emerald colored eyes burning a hole straight through Sterling. "Let's dance, edgelord."

The masked man snarled before raising Creeping Dread and firing several shots off from its silenced pistol in the hilt straight at Oran. The hyena faunus launched himself to the side, out of the bullets trajectory, and with another blast sent himself right towards Sterling. The silver haired assassin smiled wickedly under his mask as he prepared to slash with his weapon at the rapidly approaching faunus, but at the last moment Oran used both his gauntlets to halt his momentum in mid air, and Sterling's attack just barely missed the hyena boys throat. The failed attack left the masked man wide open, and Oran leapt in for a few quick punches, none of which hit their mark, but did succeed in putting Sterling on the defensive.

All Nichol could do was sit and watch as her partner rained blow after blow down on her half brother, which was probably the best thing she could do at the moment. With two sets of eyes on Sterling, he wasn't able to move as quickly as he had been fighting his sister solo. That, coupled with Oran being the fastest member of team MOON, meant the hyena faunus was able to keep up with the Hand of Humanities leader fairly well actually.

None of this did anything too quell the overwhelming dread swirling inside Nichol. No matter how quick Oran's punches might be, it still meant he had to get up close and personal to deal any real damage. Every time the orange haired boy brought up one of his mechanical forearms to deflect a sword strike it made the silverette flinch. She knew that because Oran's weapon was technically a part of his body that meant that even if he did manage to block Sterling's strikes, the faunus' aura still took a hit each time. However, that wasn't what worried Nichol most right now, what really had her nervous was the look on her partners face as he fought.

She'd known Oran for a while now, and not once had she seen him fight without his usual, ever present smile. Whether it was taking down giant chameleon Grimm, or just a little innocent sparring, the young faunus always wore a giant grin, as if nothing in the world could phase him.

Right now though? Oran was definitely not smiling.

His teeth were barred, and there was nothing friendly about the grimace he wore as the young faunus ducked under another slash from Sterling's blade, and then side stepped a jab from the spear the masked man had claimed.

It was a face Nichol was very familiar with, one she'd worn herself quite a few times in her life. It was the face of a anger and hate, but more importantly it was the face of a person that was fighting like they didn't care whether they lived or died, pure emotion surging through their every movement.

There was only one reason Nichol could think of as to why Oran would be wearing such an expression; he must have recognized Sterling. Which meant her teammate was one step closer to the truth she'd been trying to hide ever since learning about the hyena faunus' past.

Sterling swung low with Creeping Dread, making Oran jump over the blade, leaving him defenseless as the masked man used the extra reach provided by the spears long staff to swat the orange haired boy out of the air. Oran soared across the path, his back colliding with one of the streetlights that had been shot out earlier by Sterling, the metal it was made of denting at the impact. Nichol cringed at the cry of pain the hyena faunus let out as he hit the unforgiving steel.

He didn't even get a chance to recover, as Sterling was on him almost instantly. Oran brought up his gauntlets to block the golden sword pressed against him, forcing his back harder into the broken streetlight. The masked man used his free hand to push Creeping Dread, increasing the pressure and bringing it closer and closer to the hyena faunus neck.

"You know, you actually do look awfully familiar," the silver haired man said as he pressed harder onto the struggling faunus. "I seem to remember another orange haired animal who thought he could stand up to me. You remember what happened to him, don't you?"

Oran didn't say anything in response, he just opened his mouth and took a deep breath.

The masked man gave a confused grunt before he was blasted away by the force of wind from the faunus' mouth.

After tumbling across the cobblestone for a few yards, Sterling managed to stab his curving blade into the ground, stopping himself. Then he dug the pointed fingertips of his gauntlet into the earth next to his sword, and slowly alternating between the two, began to pull himself towards Oran.

The orange haired faunus continued to exhale as his opponent got closer and closer, but while his semblance was impressive, his lung capacity was not limitless, and he knew that overusing it would leave him out of breath and vulnerable. Eventually, Oran was forced to relent, stopping his windy assault, and Sterling pounced the remaining few feet towards him, reequipping the spear and lunging forward with it in his grip.

The initial jab was side stepped by the quick footed faunus, and he reached out and grabbed the end of the long weapon, just below the tip. Oran reared back, looking like he was going for another punch, and Sterling prepared to counter with Creeping Dread, but it was a feint, and the young faunus fired a small burst of wind from his gauntlet that sent his body spinning in the opposite direction and the point of his elbow collided with the side of the masked man's head. The hit caught Sterling completely off guard and in the brief moment of discombobulation, Oran pressed the knuckle of his other hand against the silver haired man's armored chest and fired. The masked assassin was sent flying again, but Nichol's spears was still in the orange haired teens iron tight grip.

"Nobody likes a klepto," he said, as the masked man landed in a heap on the other end of the path. Then he turning to Nichol. "Nicky! Catch!" Oran shouted as he tossed the spear towards his partner.

However, to the orange haired teens surprise, the weapon wasn't caught at all, and it bounced across the cobblestone, rolling to a stop at Nichol's knees, the silverette not even making an effort to catch it. The girl just stared at Oran, looking somewhere between confused and afraid.

"Nicky?" The hyena boy said, concern in his voice.

Nichol still didn't respond. Everything had happened so fast. Her fight with Sterling, her subsequent, and overwhelming defeat at his hands, Oran's arrival, his own battle against her half brother, it was all too much to process.

Why was Oran even here? Of all people, he had to know how dangerous Sterling was, and even he had to have figured out Nichol had been trying to keep him out of this exact scenario by pushing him away like she did. Yet despite all of that, the hyena faunus still seemed determined to fight the masked man. Why? Didn't he realize it was pointless? Sterling would kill both of them.

Even now, the hyena faunus just kept looking at Nichol expectantly, waiting for the fight and fire that his partner usually exuded to show itself, but unbeknownst to Oran, something had been broken in Nichol.

Of course he didn't know, he hadn't seen what had happened when she'd thrown literally all she had at her half brother. He hadn't been there when everything Nichol had worked and suffered for was so casually swept aside in the face of Sterling's overwhelming power. There was nothing she could do, nothing anyone could do to stop this man... but maybe... with Oran here there was something Nichol could do to save him as well as Shade Academy.

"Oran... just go, get back to the school," the silverette pleaded. "There's going to be an attack, you need to warn Miss Evergreen. Quickly, before he gets back up."

The hyena faunus' eyes went wide at the mentioning of the attack. "What!? But I can't just leave y-"

"Now, now, Nichol," to the silverette's dismay, her half brother rose from where Oran's attack had sent him reeling, getting both students attention, "This filthy Grimmspawn came all this way to die for you, and you're just going to send him away?"

The silver haired girl could hear the sadistic smile on Sterling face as he prepared to say the one thing she'd been dreading from the second Oran arrived on the scene.

"Don't you think that's a bit cruel... sister?"

For that one moment, the entire desert of Vacuo went quiet.

No animals, no people, not even the wind, it's was utter silence as Oran turned his head towards Nichol.

"S... sister?"

The two teenagers locked eyes and the silverette felt her entire mouth go dry as she stared back at her partner, helpless in the face of the confusion and hurt in his green irises. Nichol wanted nothing more than to deny it, or to explain the situation to her partner, but the growing tightness in her chest kept her silent. She was confident there was no way this situation could get any worse.

The universe was quick to prove her wrong though, as the silver haired girl suddenly realized that Oran and herself had both taken there eyes off Sterling.

"Oran! Look out!" she shouted as a blur of gray moved in the corner of her vision.

To his credit, thanks the hyena faunus' quick reaction he was able to turn back towards his opponent before the attack hit, but only in time to raise his metal arms in defense as Sterling slashed his weapon across Oran's torso.

There was a flash of orange light, followed by the sound of steel grating on steel, as the hyena faunus was thrown to the ground.

Oran groaned quietly, before pushing himself off his back to see Sterling slowly advancing on him. He raised one of his gauntlets and tried to fire some wind out of it, but instead of a mighty burst, what came out was more of a gentle breeze, barely even tussling the masked man's silver hair. The orange haired faunus tried again but this time all he got was a pathetic "click click", the same thing happening when he'd tried his other fist. Bewildered by this, Oran examined his prosthetics, only to find a long slash mark on both where Sterling had struck.

"Oh crap," the hyena boy said to himself. Looking up just in time to see the tip of Creeping Dread pointing right between his eyes.

This had to be a nightmare. There was no way this was real. No way was Nichol's life so cursed that she was about to lose another person she cared about to her brothers wrath.

And yet, this was the scene playing before her.

"It's time for me to finish what I started that night in Villa," Sterling said coldly. "Your reprieve from execution has lasted too long, you despicable creat-"

The masked man stopped, turning his head as an odd sound filled the night. The soft melody playing in the distance getting the attention of all the players in the battle outside the airship port.

Oran smirked.

Suddenly, a golden light streaked across the sky, like a comet, and came crashing down to the earth, sliding to a stop behind the hyena faunus.

However, this comet had a face and a name; it was Maybelle Daffidys, and Brothers, did she look angry.

The tall cow girl grimaced at Sterling as she swung her massive club at the masked assassin with a yell of exertion. He was only barely able to dodge, the top of Alexandra Grande's bell just grazing his shoulder, but as he leapt out of the way, a pillar of flames shot out of the ground, scorching Sterling's arm as he wasn't able to readjust his movements fast enough. The masked man let out a cry of pain before stepping back to reevaluate the odds against him.

Nichol looked down the path, in the direction of Shade Academy, to see Oreonna standing there, her bow sword pointed at the spot where the fire had come from, an equally unamused look on her face.

Much like Nichol and Oran, neither girl appeared to have had time to change into their combat clothes, and were still wearing the outfits they had intended to wear to bed. A yellow tank top and short shorts for May, and a gray t-shirt and comfy looking black sweatpants for Oreonna.

Maybelle rested her club on her shoulder and lifted Oran to his feet one handed. All three faunus converged on Nichol, standing in front of the silverette protectively. In any other situation, Nichol might have been moved by the display of camaraderie, but in reality having all of her friends here in one place just made that pit of anxiety in her chest grow deeper.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Maybelle asked Sterling, standing tall at the front of the group of faunus, looking very much like the leader she was.

The masked man have a discomforting chuckle. "You mean you haven't told them about me, Nichol? Honestly, I'm hurt."

"He's her brother," Oran stated plainly, the emotion in his voice unreadable to Nichol. "Also he's very fun to punch, I can personally attest to that."

May and Oreo shared a quick look that didn't go unnoticed by the silverette as she still sat on the ground behind her teammates, silently wishing very much that she'd never even been born.

"Ooooookay..." Oreonna said raising an eyebrow at the masked man, "so I'm guessing by the sword that this isn't a friendly family reunion?"

"That's the vibe I'm getting," Oran replied, bringing up his fists again, ready to go another round despite his malfunctioning prosthetics.

Sterling put a hand to his hip, almost looking impatient. "Your assumptions are correct," he said, sounding more bothered than threatened by the three armed teenagers standing before him. "I have business with my sister here, business that keeps on getting interrupted by more and more outsiders. Now while I'd like nothing more than to rid Remnant of a few more nosy Grimmspawn," the man's masked face turned towards Nichol who stared back wordlessly, "family always comes first."

"Please, all of you, listen to me," the silverette finally managed to croak out, "just get out of here, I'm begging you. This isn't a fight you can win." Nichol pleaded desperately, clutching her still bleeding knuckle.

The cow girl in front of the group scoffed, "Yeah right, this loser doesn't look so tough. No way he could take all four of us."

"That's right," Oreonna agreed, stepping forward to stand at her partners side, Symphonic Discord's blade out in front of her. "And besides, what kind of Huntsmen would we be if we didn't defend someone in need?"

"... And there's no way we'd leave you," Oran added, his tone still uncharacteristically serious, though he still wouldn't turn to look at Nichol as he spoke. "Not with this murdering piece of crap still conscious."

"Is that what has you oh so upset? Me being a murderer?" Sterling responded, sounding downright thrilled to reveal what he knew.

The bottom dropped out of Nichol's stomach,

Please no... She begged internally.

"Wouldn't you be surprised to know..."

Please, don't...

"that you yourselves have been harboring a murderer all along!"

...

...

...

The words seemed to slowly marinate in the air as all the faunus slowly lowered their weapons and turned to look at Nichol in shock.

The silverette felt helpless under their combined gazes. The weight of every faunus life she'd taken had never felt heavier. She wanted to say something, anything to make it right, explain exactly what had happened, bring up Sterling's manipulation, or hell, just outright deny his claims, but as she stared back at her teammates, her orange eyes wide, and her mouth agape, she realized no words would ever fix this.

"How many Grimmspawn have you killed for the glory of our cause, sister? Fifty? A hundred? Did you even keep count?"

The look in her teammates eyes ranged from horrified to disbelief, and who could blame them? How would anyone react to learning someone they'd shared a room with, shared meals with, someone they'd trusted, maybe even considered a friend, was not only capable of one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, but multiple counts of it.

"Hmm? Nothing to say, sister? Let me narrow the question down for you," Sterling said, clearly enjoying himself, "how many families -just like that orange haired annoyance's there- did you destroy?"

Oran's eyes widened slightly at the question, a near silent gasp escaping his lips. You could tell just by the look on his face that he didn't want to believe it. He was looking at his partner so desperately, practically begging her to deny the claims, but what could she possibly say at this point? She wasn't innocent, and more lies wouldn't save her.

It was too much to bear, so Nichol hung her head in shame, and shut her eyes tightly, the tears already starting to build behind them. She curled herself up into a ball where she sat on the ground, wanting so badly to wake up from this nightmare.

Sterling may have said he didn't come here to kill her, but he might as well have. Or maybe this had been his plan all along? After all, if your target refuses to go with you, what better way to make them, then to ensure they no longer have anywhere else to go.

The masked man could have attacked at any point now. All eyes were on Nichol and the three faunus in front of her were completely defenseless. Instead he decided to leisurely stroll over to where his torn and tattered cape laid on the cobblestone path, at the epicenter of Nichol's failed attempt to kill him, pick it up and dust it off, before clipping it back in place over his shoulders. He knew he'd already won, so why rush things?

"Do you all understand now?" The masked man continued, "You may have come here with the noble intention of defending a seemingly innocent girl from some great evil, but it turns out the one you came to save is no better than myself."

Nichol winced at her half brothers words. The truth hurt, as it often did. As the tears started to fall, she wondered what would happen to her now. She'd never go back to the Hand, that much hasn't changed, no matter what Sterling did to her. Running wasn't exactly an option, seeing as how she was in the middle of the desert with nowhere to go. Would her old teammates arrest her? Send her off to prison as they would any other homicidal criminal? They did want to be Huntsmen after all.

Or... maybe they'd want revenge? Revenge for the pain their kind had suffered at the silverette's own hands? Nichol observed the weapons in her -no doubt now, former- teammates hands.

Maybe Oran would want to take some of that hate and anger out on her personally. Make her pay for what had happened to his family.

If that was the case, Nichol would let him.

It would be the least she could do.

Let him hurt her a little, to make up for all the pain she'd brought him by hiding the truth all this time.

Yeah. She'd be okay with that.

"Now then, I feel like I've already been very patient this evening, but what can I say, you've caught me in a good mood," Sterling went on, though he was basically talking to himself at this point, "the three of you... beasts have nothing to do with my work here tonight, so if you would kindly stand aside I promise no harm will come to-"

A small, lopsided burst of wind caught the masked man on the left side of his temple, cutting off his ramblings.

Maybelle and Oreonna turned their attention away from Nichol and to their hyena faunus teammate.

Oran stood there, his fist still extended outward as the dust engine on his gauntlet wheezed before finally breaking down, a small whiff of smoke escaping its metal casing.

"And people say I talk too much."

Sterling clenched his free hand tightly in rage. "What!?" He seethed beneath his mask. Nichol slowly raised her head.

"Dude, did you really think I'd listen to a word you'd say? You're just some weirdo that showed up in the middle of the night wearing a gaudy looking mask, and whose ego I can smell from here."

The silver haired assassin squared up his shoulders, as if trying to maintain his composure. "Ignorant animal, so you've chosen to turn a blind eye to the truth then?"

Oran shook his head. "Nope, can't do that. Kinda goes against the job description, but I'll tell you this," the hyena boy stared down Sterling with contempt, "I'd damn sure rather hear the truth from her than some whack job with a big opinion of himself before I make any judgments."

Nichol managed to sit up on her knees, staring at Oran through her still wet eyes in disbelief.

"But all that can wait until later, because right now the last thing I'm gonna do is 'stand aside' and let someone I care about get hurt."

The words coming out of Nichol's hyena faunus teammate continued to baffle her. He'd heard what Sterling had said, right? And the fact that the silverette hadn't denied a word of it? And yet, he still had faith in her?

"Besides," Oran turned his head, looking back at Nichol's flabbergasted expression, "I know she'd do the same for me."

And then he smiled, that same carefree, sharp toothed, crooked, infuriating, and confusing at the same time, smile he'd always shown Nichol, ever since the day they'd met, and as the silverette saw it, she felt fresh tears starting to build up in her eyes. She managed to bite back the sob forming in the back of her throat, and nodded firmly.

"He's right," Maybelle chimed in, determination in her brown eyes. "Even if everything you just told us is true, we won't let it distract us from the real bad guy here;" the blonde held her massive weapon out in front of her, "You."

Sterling was visibly shaking with anger at this point.

"Besides," May continued, "I... also want to have faith in my teammate. You might be her brother, but that doesn't mean you know Nichol like we do." The cow faunus tightened her grip on Alexandra Grande. "No matter who she was in the past, I'm going to do the same for her that I would any of my other friends. I'll protect the Nichol that I know, not the one that was."

The silver haired girl remained speechless as her leader swore to defend her- or at least the person she'd gotten to know these last months. Whether or not that was the real Nichol... well, astoundingly, the cow girl was also willing to hear the silverette out on that as well. The only member of the team that hadn't spoken their piece yet was Oreonna, and she was also the only one of Nichol's teammates that was still staring back at her, a look of conflict in her rosy pink eyes. She seemed... hesitant for a moment, but then turned back around to join her friends in facing Sterling.

"Ignorant, indignant, accursed, loathsome, Grimmspawn..." the masked man's composure seemed to finally be breaking down as his balled up fists made his metal gauntlets creak. "If you are all so eager to die," he crouched down low, holding Creeping Dread out behind his back, "then I am more than happy to oblige!"

The three teenage faunus faced off with Sterling. For a moment, both sides seemed frozen in time. Then, like bolts from a crossbow, they shot towards each other, Nichol still looking on in terror from her knees as the two sides clashed.

Using her semblance, May cleared the gap first, slamming her club downward towards the human supremacist. He sidestepped quickly to the left, and right into the path of the wicked clothesline Oran was winding up, but Sterling not only ducked under it, but spun around and delivered a kick to the hyena boys back after he'd passed that sent him tumbling to the ground. Maybelle had recovered from her first swing by then and wound up another, only to have the masked man jump onto the club as it swung by and slide down its shaft towards her and plant another metal clad boot into the other faunus' face.

The blonde berserker stumbled a bit from the kick, and Sterling took the opening to slash across her right arm with his sword, the bright yellow light of the cow girl's aura briefly lighting up the night as he did.

Before he could go for another attack, Oreonna intercepted, striking back with her own flurry of blows from her sword. The human and faunus engaged one another for a moment, the violinist's weapons offensive and defensive options gave her a bit more of a technical advantage, but Sterling was still too fast for her to keep up with. Eventually the human was able to overcome the cat girl, sweeping the legs out from under her. Oreonna gave a quick gasp as Sterling went to stab downwards into the violinists torso, but the bell of Maybelle's weapon slammed into his side suddenly, much faster than he had anticipated it moving. The golden glow around the edges of Alexandra Grande as the cow girl used her semblance to make it lighter reflected off the humans mask as he leapt back from the sudden quick assault from the tall blonde.

However, while she may have been able to keep up with the silver haired assassin using this trick, Maybelle was all too aware of the drawbacks. Firstly, a lighter weapon meant it did less damage, and secondly, every attack she made drained from her limited pool of aura, which already had a huge chunk taken out of it thanks to Sterling's earlier attack.

In spite of this, and desperate to put some distance between the maniac and Oreonna, the cow girl managed several quick strikes, spinning her club around her body as she attacked, advanced on Sterling. Unfortunately she was only able to catch the masked human off guard with her first swing, and the silver haired man was able to nimbly dodged the rest as he retreated back.

Before long, the glow on Maybelle's weapon started to fade as she felt the usual fatigue from overusing her semblance start to take hold. After one final wide swing to force Sterling away, the tall blonde used her special gift one more time to leap back, hoping to catch her breath for a moment. However, as she did, Sterling was suddenly right in front of her, rocketing towards her in midair, so fast he seemed to almost move through the shocked cow girl as he slashed at her again, this time across her midsection.

May tumbled across the ground, yellow light washing over the blonde faunus as her aura took another big hit, Alexandra Grande falling from her grip as she fell.

This time it was Oran who struck when Sterling went in for a killing blow. The hyena faunus' weapons were badly damaged by now, incapable of firing any more long distance attacks, and his aura was the lowest of any member of team MOON at the moment -aside from Nichol's, whose had broken earlier and had yet to reappear- but that didn't stop Oran from delivering a few quick body blows to the masked man, and punctuating his combo with a solid uppercut.

Sterling was launched into the air by the upward strike, and seeing an opening, Oreonna quickly played her violin. The already overcast, moonless sky somehow got darker, and the cat girl thrust her sword skyward after finishing her short song and on cue a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky at the masked human.

However, at the last moment, Sterling raised his curving, golden blade, and the electricity seemed to be drawn into the weapon, absorbing the energy.

As he fell to the ground, the silver haired man stabbed Creeping Dread into the earth, his oddly shaped sword cracking with lightning. It released a wave of energy that shot towards both Oran and Oreonna.

"Oh come the hell on!" the hyena faunus shouted as the electricity raced towards him.

Thankfully, his cat eared teammates had noticed just how low Oran's aura was, and jumped in the path of the attack, Symphonic Discord's shield in front of her. The violinists own dust spell washed over the two faunus, but thanks to Oreonna's quick thinking neither of them were hurt by it. The cat girl let out a breath of relief, and lowered her shield, only to find Sterling standing right in front of her.

In desperation, the black and white haired faunus used her semblance, hoping the bright flash of light would be enough to disorient her opponent, not knowing that the lenses of the silver haired assassin mask were designed to block out light.

As the two Oreonna's appeared, a hand shot out, wrapping around the white haired ones neck, the lighter colored faunus letting out a mute gasp. The black haired cat girl moved to help, but was instantly cut down by a single slash of Sterling's weapon.

One of her halves being defeated forced the young faunus to reform into one, still being held by the throat by the masked human. Oreonna coughed and sputtered as Sterling tightened his grip, pulling the cat girls face closer to his, her desperate struggles seemingly entertaining to him.

"Oreo!" Oran shouted as he ran to free his trapped teammate.

Sterling didn't even look away from Oreonna as he lifted his weapon and fired at the hyena boy at point-black range with his silenced pistol.

Even though he managed to get his arms up in time to block, the orange haired teens aura was so low he felt the full force of the bullets and staggered back. With his grip still tight around Oreonna's throat, the masked man lashed out with a harsh kick to the hyena faunus chest, knocking him away.

With his momentary distraction dealt with, Sterling redoubled his efforts on the short cat girl in his clutches, as Oreonna batted feebly at the arm currently choking her with her sword. The masked man didn't seem to mind the hits, or the damage it did to his aura. He knew his own strength would outlast his preys.

Sure enough, slowly the cat girl's struggles became weaker, her eyes starting to roll into the back of her head, and soon she wasn't even able to lift her sword to fight back. Beneath his mask, Sterling smiled wickedly as Oreonna fell to her knees, desperately clawing at his hand as her face started to change colors.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" a voice shouted, making Sterling finally look away from the girl in his clutches.

He turned just in time to see Maybelle's club about a foot from his face. The masked man was forced to shove away the smaller faunus in his grip in order to move out of the way of the massive strike.

The blonde berserker began a relentless assault on the silver haired man, even faster than before. The sight of Oreonna struggling to breathe making the cow faunus see red, and in a sea of adrenaline she laid into Sterling.

Despite this sudden rage filled boost, the masked man still seemed more than capable of outmaneuvering May, but the extra amount of focus he needed to use to counter the blondes movements was enough to leave him open.

After Sterling managed to parry a savage attack, he ran his blade up along the side of Maybelle's weapon, towards the cow girl herself, ready to deal a possible killing blow. However, the cow girl stepped to the side, revealing a vengeful Oran rushing towards Sterling, the hyena faunus' gauntlet already cocked back and ready to strike. The masked man let out a rare, near silent gasp, as a metal fist collided with his face.

It was only because of the silver haired man's aura that his masks lenses didn't shatter into his eyes, but the surprise attack did send him for enough of a loop for Maybelle to finally land one of her own crushing swings into Sterling's side, sending the masked assassin rolling across the cobblestone, where he, for once, was not so quick to hop back to his feet.

He did rise eventually though, before either May or Oran could clear the distance to follow up. Through his mask, Sterling's one remaining, burnt orange eye shined angrily.

"Do not think I will allow you to lay hands upon me, beasts," the silver haired man growled out as he tried to catch his breath, holding out Creeping Dread and pointing it at the two faunus ahead of him, "not without recompense."

Then he rushed straight towards the duo, Maybelle and Oran raising there weapons and preparing themselves for round two.

Meanwhile, Oreonna sat up on the ground and rubbed her throat tenderly, still seeing spots from her choking. Aura was good for blocking pretty much anything that was thrown at you, but couldn't do much against an up close and personal strangling.

As she tried to regain her composure so she could jump back into the fray to help her friends, the cat faunus' eyes wandered away from her teammates fighting to Nichol. The silverette still hadn't moved from her spot on her knees, her orange irises still wide in horror as she watched her friends fight her brother, and on the ground next to her was her spear. Oreonna gave Nichol a confused look, before barring her teeth in anger. She took one final, nervous look at Oran and Maybelle as they battled against the man in silver armor, before rushing to her seemingly paralyzed teammate.

"Nichol?" the violinist said gently as she kneeled down next to the silver haired girl. She got no response however, as her teammates eyes remained locked on the living nightmare continuing to play out before her. "NICHOL!" Oreonna said, much less gently this time, but it did finally get the silverette to look at her. "We need your help," the cat girl said desperately, "this guy is tough, and I don't know how long May and Oran can-"

"No." Nichols simple refusal cut Oreonna off mid sentence, the clearly struggling girl's gaze drifting downward to the ground.

"What do you mean, 'no?'" the black and white haired faunus asked incredulously.

"I... I never wanted this," Nichol said quietly, so quiet Oreonna couldn't even be sure she was speaking to her. "That's why I told you all to run, now it's too late..."

"No, it's not," the cat girl said as she took her teammates head in both hands and forced her to look up at her. "We can beat him if we work together, I know-"

"No we can't!" Nichol shouted, swatting away Oreonna's hands. "I tried so hard to keep my past away from you three, but now..." the silverette grabbed her temple and shut her eyes tightly. "I never should have come to this school, I put everyone in danger."

"Nichol."

"I just wanted to get stronger so I could stop him myself, but everything I did was for nothing-"

"Nichol!"

"And now Sterling is here and he's going to kill all of you just to hurt me-"

"NICHOL!"

"And then he'll take the spear back and faunus everywhere are going to suffer, all because of-"

The silverette's spiraling into despair was cut off, not by words, but by the palm of Oreonna's hand slapping her across the face.

Nichol brought a hand to her now warm and throbbing cheek and stared at the cat girl in shock. Oreonna stared back, her hand still outstretched from the slap, looking almost as surprised at what she'd done as her human teammate was.

After a beat of silence in which the two just sat on the cobblestone looking at one another, the cat faunus took a breath and closed her eyes. "Maybe your right," Oreonna said softly. "Maybe we can't win, and maybe he will... kill us all."

Nichol just continued to stare, motionless, her teammates words doing little to put her at ease.

"But that's just it, Nichol, all those things, that's what might happen, and if we sit here and do nothing then that's all that will happen. Right now though, people are still fighting, still trying to win, to stay alive, all for you, that is what's happening right now."

This did manage to get a reaction out of the silverette. Nichol lowered her hand, placing it next to the one with the cut on it's knuckles in her lap and clenching her fists tightly.

"You might not have wanted any of this to happen, but it is, and I know you're scared, we are too, but we can't just stand by and let this maniac do whatever he wants." The cat eared girl put one of her hands on top of Nichol's injured one, managing to make the traumatized girl look back up. "We have to try, all four of us, together, that's the only way we stand a chance here. So we need you to decide what you're going to do, either you can sit here, and we will protect you, with everything we have," the black and white haired teen reached to the side and grabbed Nichol's spear of the ground, before taking her teammates hand and wrapping it around the weapons shaft, "or you can fight with us, at least so we can hold out until help gets here. Whatever you choose, just remember you're not doing this alone anymore."

Nichol stared at the weapon for a moment, before lifting her other hand and grasping the spear with it, not necessarily tightly, but it was a sign that Oreonna's words had at least gotten through. The rest would be up to the silverette.

The cat faunus managed a smile, before a cry of pain tore her gaze back over to where Maybelle and Oran were still fighting for their lives. Sterling had managed to get in close on May and deliver another slash across the midsection. Oran was right there though, reciprocating the attack with his own series of punches. The two faunus were good team, balancing out each other with speed and strength, and had managed to hold their own against Sterling for a while, but the masked man was slowly regaining the advantage. He'd begun using the tall blonde as a barrier between the hyena boy and himself, breaking the smaller faunus' line of sight and using his semblance to deal extra damage to both of them. Unless something changed soon, things would only get worse for team MOON.

Oreonna looked back to Nichol, who still looked a little shaken. "Listen, Nichol, you're the only one who can help us here. Does your brother have any weaknesses we can exploit? Anything at all?"

The silverette gave an incredulous look. The very idea of her half brother having a single vulnerability seemed almost laughable after how this night had gone for her. However... there was one thing, but... no, it was impossible.

The cat girl seemed to notice the glimmer of an idea on her teammates face though. "What? What is it?"

"It's... nothing. Sterling had no weaknesses, he was always better than me, always will be, I never should have-"

Nichol was cut off again, this time by Oreonna putting both hands on the silver haired girls shoulders and grasping them tightly. "Don't think like that! You know something, don't you? Please, Nichol, you have to tell me."

Finally relenting, the spear wielder revealed the seemingly useless information. "... Sunlight..." Nichol said reluctantly, "he never told me straight out, but... I don't remember ever seeing him fight during the daytime, so I always figured there must have been a reason, but...it's just a hunch."

"Sunlight..." Oreonna said thoughtfully.

"Yes, but it doesn't matter because the sun won't rise for another six hours," the hopelessness in Nichols voice returned, just as strong as it had been before. "We won't last that long against him."

"We don't have to..." the cat faunus said. Then she picked up her violin, and her bow, and then stood. "I have an idea, but I need some time to focus." The silver haired girl looked up at her teammates with a curious expression. "Can you keep him off me for a few minutes, Nichol?"

The spear wielder just stared at Oreonna, her spear still hanging loosely in her grip. This did not fill the violinist with an abundance of confidence, but they were out of time.

Back in the battle, Sterling slid under one of Maybelle's sweeping attacks, slashing at the back of the cow girls knee as he did. With a grunt of pain, the blonde collapsed to the ground, her aura at its limits. Predictably, Oran rushed in to cover his leader, a practice the masked man had noticed and now intended to take full advantage of. As the hyena faunus foolishly charged towards him, fist coiled and ready to strike, Sterling leapt over him, putting Oran on a collision course with Maybelle. The orange haired teen was able to stop himself just in time in front of the other faunus, only for the still airborne silver haired assassin to slash him across the back and send him colliding into her anyway.

The two students fell to the ground, Sterling slowly walking over to them, knowing their aura's had to be low enough at this point that a well placed stab would end this fight for at least one of them. However, a warm, orange glow started washing over the path, making the masked man stop mid step. He watched as his shadow became longer and longer beneath him, stretching across the sand. Was this... sunrise? But that was impossible, it was still the middle of the night! Then he heard the music playing, and Sterling turned his head towards the source of the morning light, and saw the young cat faunus he'd been choking the life out of minutes ago playing the strings on her weapon as a small golden orb began to grow in the sky above her.

Nichol watched in awe at her teammates display of dust manipulation. She'd seen this effect before, or at least a similar version of it, on taped recordings of previous Vytal Festival tournaments. It had been Maybelle's idea to watch previous matches as a way to prepare for the upcoming festival, and Nichol, having never actually seen any coverage of the tournament before, found the spectacle... oddly enthralling, not just the fights themselves, but the place the bouts took place; Amity Colosseum. The high tech arena was more prestigious than anything the spears wielder had fought in before, even outclassing the Arena at Shade Academy, but the part she found most interesting was the different biome's that could be created for the fights. There were mountain ranges, fields, derelict buildings, forests, but most notably, deserts, and to truly replicate the feeling of fighting in a boiling hot wasteland, Amity Colosseum used its massive dust supply to create a miniature sun, much like the one hovering over Nichol's cat eared teammate right now. Mind you, Oreonna's was much smaller than the one at Amity, but being able to even manifest something so complex on your own was impressive to say the least.

That cat girl was clearly putting her heart and soul into making it too, the latter of which being literal judging by her appearance. Usually when Oreonna played her violin, she wore a calm, comfortable expression, manipulating the strings of her instrument having become second nature to her, however this was not the case at the moment. The violinists cat ears were flat against her head, her brow furrowed and focused, her lips parted slightly to reveal clenched teeth as well, but most notable were the pulses of pink light flowing up from Oreonna's feet to her head. Now it made sense to Nichol just how her teammate was able to create and sustain her miniature sun, the cat faunus was pouring her aura into her dust spell, an advanced technique the silverette didn't even know the black and white haired girl was capable of.

As Nichol watched the impressive display of power and control Oreonna was showing, she started to feel guilt creep into her. Her friends were fighting so hard for her, risking their lives to keep Sterling at bay, even after finding out the truth about her, and all the silverette had done in return was sit there, helpless and hopeless. What was Nichol supposed to do though? Her fear of her brother was overpowering, and was keeping her rooted to the ground. However, her cat eared teammates words still rang true in the spear wielder's head.

If Nichol did nothing, all that would happen is she'd have to watch her friends die, that was a fact, and that outcome was unacceptable to her. Would she just sit idly by while her teammates bled for her? She'd told herself she was facing Sterling alone to protect her friends, and now that he was going after them suddenly Nichol didn't want to fight him? Was she really content with that? Of course not, but what could she do? She was weak, tired, aura-less, and holding a weapon with only a few specks of dust left in it, what good would she possibly be to teammates in this state? The silverette remained frozen in place as indecision and doubt continued to plague her.

Meanwhile, Sterling had managed to shake off his momentary surprise at the sudden appearance of the small sun, and moved to extinguish it quickly, or rather, to extinguish the life of it's creator. Maybelle and Oran were still recovering from the masked man's attack, so no one stood in his way as he charged towards Oreonna.

The cat girl was completely defenseless, especially with her aura being focused entirely on keeping the little star she'd made stable. Her eyes were still closed as well, sweat gathering on her forehead from her intense concentration, not to mention the heat from the sun she was creating. Despite that she could clearly hear the silver haired assassin getting closer, Oreonna didn't move.

The masked man reared back as he approached the short faunus, blood lust gleaming in his eye as he prepared yet another savage strike with his golden blade. With his Gust Bracers still malfunctioning, there was no way Oran would be able to get there in time to intercept him. Maybelle tried to get to her feet to leap to her partners rescue again, but stumbled back down as soon as she put weight on the leg Sterling had just attacked.

With a yell of exertion, the assassin swung his blade.

KLANG

The sound of metal on metal reverberated across the desert.

Sterling growled in frustration as the one foe he'd thought had already been defeated tonight stood in front of him, her spear holding back his sword from finding its target. The silverette pushed back with what little strength she still had left, her orange eyes blazing with a new resolve.

Something had stirred inside Nichol, she wouldn't dare to call it hope, but more of a willingness to at least try. She was done letting her friends fight her battles, or at least, she wouldn't let them fight them alone anymore. If she was still breathing, that meant she kept fighting, no matter the cost, that was the motto by which Nichol Cuillere had always lived, and she promised to never forget that again.

The golden mask wearing man raised his gaze from his sisters determined face to look at the miniature sun as it grew larger under the cat girls command. "No!" He shouted through a clenched jaw, and that was when Nichol struck.

She hooked her leg around her distracted half brothers, and pulled his foot out from under him. It didn't knock the masked man over, but it did put him off balance enough for Nichol to push away his blade and hit Sterling in the side of the head with the bulky end of her weapon, then she spun her spear in her fingers and ran its sharp edge up against her half brothers armored chest. Her reward was a flash of silver and a long scratch across the masked man's metal covered torso. There was no mistaking it, he was definitely slower now. In one act her brother didn't seem nearly as invincible as he had before, and suddenly a glimmer of real hope sprouted in Nichol.

Sterling stopped and ran a hand over the scar on his once resplendent, shining armor, now looking much more scuffed and soot covered than it had at the beginning of this seemingly never ending night. He clenched his fist and let out an indignant yell as he moved to bring his sword down on Nichol, but was suddenly yanked backwards.

"Ah, ah, ah! Bad edgelord! Bad!" Oran shouted as he held two big handfuls of Sterling's long gray cloak. The hyena boy began spinning around in a circle, lifting the masked man off the ground with the speed of his rotations. "Hey, Maybelle!" he yelled over to his leader, who was now back on her feet, "Batter up!"

The cow faunus smirked, put her club over her shoulder and wound it up tightly. Then, after a few more spins, just to further disorient the masked man, Oran released him, sending Sterling soaring through the air towards May, flailing uselessly as he flew. The massive blonde swung Alexandra Grande with all of her overwhelming might into the silver haired assassin, delivering a crushing blow to his side, a small, but satisfying, crunch as she did.

Sterling tumbled across almost the entirety of the path in front of the airship dock, grunting as his body bounced off the unforgiving stone over and over. He finally stopped, landing in a heap, but shockingly, his aura still hadn't broken, a testament to the masked man's strength and will, he struggled to return to his feet, but team MOON wasn't about to give him that chance.

"Nichol!" Maybelle shouted as she crouched low in preparation for a jump, "Hold him still!"

The silverette looked to her weapon's revolving dust dispenser, all the chambers on it faded and empty, except one. The blue marked chamber flickered weakly, no doubt as a result of the damage Nichol's spear had taken during her overloading of it earlier, but it was a sign it wasn't empty yet. The silver haired girl spun her weapon around as ice energy built around it's tip, and then swung in Sterling's direction.

The wave of frozen dust washed over the masked man, covering not only his legs, but since his hands were on the ground as he was trying to stand, the ice traveled up his arms to his elbows, thoroughly trapping Sterling in place. He looked up at the teenagers standing on the other end of the path, hate practically pouring out from behind his mask as he began to struggle, but thanks to Oreonna's continued playing of her violin, the small sun hanging in the air above her kept the assassin from using his semblance to free himself.

"Oran!" May called out, "MOONfall!"

The hyena boy nodded, before taking a deep, deep, breath, his chest expanding beyond normal. Meanwhile, Maybelle leapt into the air, flying upwards towards the cloudy sky. When she neared the apex of her jump, Oran exhaled, not in a long stream of air this time, but a concentrated burst that kicked up a ring of sand all around him, the force he expelled nearly knocking him over in the process. The wind shot upwards, hitting the currently lighter than air May and essentially allowing her to jump again, going even higher in to the sky. The clouds above the cow girl split open from the sudden updraft of air, revealing the shattered moon in the sky as Maybelle's silhouette drifted in front of it. Then, after hanging in the air for a second, there was a flash of golden light as the blonde increased gravity's hold on her and began plummeting downward.

Sterling had only managed to free one of his hands by the time May's club crashed down on top of him.

The windows of the airship port shattered at the impact.

Stones, sand, and ice were all kicked up into the air, raining down on the other three members of team MOON. Oreonna's sun was the only thing that remained visible under the fog of debris covering the battlefield. As the dust finally settled, the violinist, the spear wielder, and the hyena boy all stood in silence, waiting for any sign of life from the still smoking crater in front of them.

After a moment or two, a figure leapt out of the fog towards the three teens. All the students were immediately on guard, but stopped when they recognized the short blonde hair of Maybelle's, which had fallen out of its usual bun. The cow faunus landed softly in front of her teammates, before almost collapsing with a grunt.

"May!" Oreonna cried out as she stopped playing and ran to her partner's side, her artificial sun beginning to slowly shrink and fade.

Shockingly, aside from the clear exhaustion, Maybelle seemed uninjured, but the look on her face made it clear all was not well. "No... Oreo... keep... playing..." the cow faunus said between breaths. She looked back over her shoulder at the crater she'd made. "I don't think... we're done here yet..."

Oran, Nichol, and Oreonna all joined May in staring at the still smoldering hole in disbelief, and sure enough, they could see movement inside.

"You gotta be kidding me..." Oran said quietly as Sterling walked out from the smoke.

Don't be mistaken, he didn't look great, any sheen or luster his armor had once had was gone, replaced by many dents and scrapes. Half of his cloak seemed to have fallen off, draping over his left arm as he limped forward towards his enemies. Most strikingly though, his golden mask seemed to have either been destroyed or misplaced in the wake of Maybelle's massive strike.

All three faunus had to suppress gasps of shock at the man's grotesquely scarred face as he hobbled towards them. Nichol was the only one who didn't look surprised, instead her face displayed a more complex emotion, the only emotion she realized Sterling truly deserved, pity.

This man had once been everything to her, almost more of a father figure than a brother, she'd even say she looked up to him for a time. That was all ancient history of course, and none of that excused a single thing he'd done, but to see someone who played such a big role in your life -for better or worse- brought so low, to look so pathetic and beaten, it was almost... sad. Nichol couldn't help but wonder where her half brother had gone wrong, at what point did he cross that line there was no coming back from? It must have been before she'd been born, the silverette had never seen any other side of Sterling than the one she'd grown up with. Maybe when he'd lost his own mother? Nichol couldn't help but feel a shiver of disgust at the possibility of the two siblings having shared the same catalyst for the darker paths their lives took. Perhaps that had been another reason her brother had killed Noire? To push Nichol to the same level as him? To a world were the only solution to dealing with your own pain was to cause others just as much suffering. Honestly, Nichol wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

However, despite how pathetic Sterling might have looked to the four teenagers, they still didn't lower their guard, as they could still make out the tip of Creeping Dread sticking out from under his torn and tattered cloak.

Oreonna resumed playing, the sun behind the four roaring back to life, Oran raised his fists again, wiping away at the side of his nose with his thumb before getting into his usual fighting pose, and May stood up straight in front of her team and rested Alexandra Grande on her shoulder, daring the silver haired man to try anything. Nichol just sighed at her brother as he continued to stagger towards them, and she raised her spear. He was beaten and outnumbered, he had to know that by now, so why keep fighting? Only his pride and hate were keeping him standing, did he really think that was enough? How much longer did he think he could keep this up?

Nichol got her answer when she heard the sound of metal hitting the ground as Sterling's golden blade fell out from under his cloak.

The scarred man stumbled forward, down to one knee, and with a shimmer of silver light, his aura finally fell.

The four teenagers shared looks of surprise. Had they really done it? It didn't feel real.

Still hanging onto consciousness, Sterling held his chest as he breathed raggedly and looked up at team MOON with disdain. "Fine then... looks like I've lost..." the silver haired man said lowly. "The only question remaining, is which one of you is going to finish the job?"

Finish the...

It only took Nichol about half a second to realize what Sterling meant by that.

"You can't exactly let me live now, can you?" the weakened assassin said, "If you do, I'll just come back, and next time, you all won't be so lucky."

It was true. Sterling's ability to hold a grudge was legendary among the Hand of Humanity, and he was nothing if not petty. If they let him go, he'd come back, without question. If they locked him up, he'd get out, and then... well, the outcome would be the same. There was only one way to end this completely.

"... So I'll ask you again, who will it be? Will it be you, sister?" Sterling asked, pointing his hand, the one still covered by his cape, at Nichol. "We both know you want to, isn't this the moment you've been waiting for?"

Nichol narrowed her eyes at the obvious taunt. Yes, she had dreamed of this moment for a long time, and under any other circumstance she'd already be walking over to cut his throat and watch him bleed, but the situation she found herself in now wasn't so simple. Her friends were here as witnesses, the silverette hadn't accounted for that possibility. She'd heard their takes on her past, and while she was overjoyed that they hadn't chosen to abandon her yet, she still knew their relationship had been precariously placed on thin ice. It had been shaken by the reveal of Nichol's violent past, and if she callously and cruelly took her half brothers life here in front of them, that might just be the straw that breaks the camels back. Was she prepared to sacrifice her teammates remaining trust in her to fulfill her own violent ambitions?

She looked to her faunus friends, Oran and May looking back, clearly interested to see what their teammate and partner would do, while Oreonna was too focused on playing her violin, maintaining the sun behind the group that was keeping the silver haired man at bay.

"...No? Really sister?" Sterling went on, taking his siblings silence as a refusal. "Perhaps you do still care." he added, his scarred lips curving up into what one could only assume was supposed to be a smile.

Nichol glared at the assassin banefully. She really wanted to end him, here and now, end her nightmares once and for all.

"Well then, perhaps one of your Grimmspawn acquaintances is up to the task?" Sterling pointed to Oran. "What about you? I mean, you did make a point of saying you were hear to avenge your father, didn't you?"

The hyena faunus didn't say anything, but the silverette saw his mechanical fists tighten. If Nichol had to guess, her partner was probably facing a a similar dilemma to her own. It was sad to think that the only thing the two of them really had in common was the trauma brought on by the man before them.

"Maybe your leader?" Sterling pointed to Maybelle. "I know the burden of leadership all too well, and how it requires the will to do what is necessary. Will you be the one to carry the weight of taking my life?"

"Gods, you are one sad, twisted, little man, aren't you?" the cow girl responded, looking undaunted in the face of Sterling's words.

While Nichol wanted to take a moment to be impressed by her teammates composure while facing a threat of this magnitude, something just felt... wrong.

What was Sterling's endgame here? They had him on the ropes, he had to know that by now, and yet he was talking like he almost wanted them to kill him. Her brother was a lot of things, but suicidal wasn't one of them, so why all the taunts? More mind games? If so, then again, to what end?

Then the silverette's gaze went to the ground, where Sterling's weapon had fallen... or so she'd thought.

Looking closer, Nichol was surprised to see that it was only Creeping Dread's sword that rested next to the assassins kneeling form. There was a visible piece poking out of the bottom of the golden blade that usually attached to the weapons hilt, but where was the rest of the-

"Or perhaps you..."

The realization exploded into Nichol's mind. "Look-" Her warning came seconds too late.

There was a near silent, whisper of a gunshot from underneath Sterling's cloak covered arm as he fired in the direction of team MOON.

Nichol stood perfectly still for a moment, waiting for the pain to come, but it never did. She looked down at her torso, ran a hand over her abdomen, looking for any sign she'd been shot, but found nothing.

That was when the silverette noticed the music had stopped.

"W... what?..."

A soft voice from the back of the group had Nichol, Oran, and then Maybelle all slowly turning around to the member of their team behind them.

There was Oreonna, her sword and shield still in hand as she stared down at herself in shock, at the blotch of crimson quickly spreading across her stomach, dying the lower half of her shirt a dark red.

Nichol only barely made out the whispered, "No..." from Maybelle as the silverette stared at the gunshot wound on the left side of the cat girls abdomen.

The violinists looked up at the concerned expressions of her teammates, her own face beginning to pale.

Then Oreonna fell.

And the sun began to dim.

Maybelle let out a much more audible scream of anguish as she rushed to her fallen partners side, joined quickly by Oran, the latter taking Oreonna's hand as she laid on the stone, her sword having clattered from her grip.

Nichol didn't move, she couldn't. All she could do was stare into her friends panic filled, pink eyes as they darted between the cow girl and hyena faunus fussing over her. The words Maybelle and Oran where shouting at the wounded cat girl were lost on the silverette, the world and all its sounds drifting away, making the whole horrible scenario seem even more like a dream to the spear wielder. However, there was one sound that cut through the fog, a horrible, grating, disgusting sound that chilled Nichol to the bone.

It was Sterling's laughter.

The scarred was practically cackling behind the silver haired girl, clearly very pleased with himself. Maybelle was the second one to notice the sound, she looked up from the injured cat girl, hate boiling in her eyes, all of it directed at the assassin who'd just shot Oreonna. The blonde berserker grabbed her giant club and charged out of Nichol's line of sight with a shout.

Oran remained at the violinist's side, clutching her hand tightly with glossy eyes. He turned to Nichol and said something that the silverette still couldn't make out, his face desperate and pleading. Then, something must have happened behind the paralyzed girl, because the orange haired teen suddenly looked shocked, before reluctantly leaving Oreonna's side and running off to join Maybelle, presumably.

Nichol remained rooted in place, her gaze locked onto the violinist as she stared back at her. This... this had to be a nightmare. There was just no way something so terrible had actually happened. However, as Oreonna's eyes began to flutter, opening and closing slower and slower, it was impossible for the silver haired girl to deny the reality of the situation before her.

Then, with one last look of horror directed at Nichol, the cat girls rosy colored eye's rolled up into her head as they closed, and the sun above went out completely.

The darkness of midnight returned to the area in front of the airship port. There were sounds of a struggle behind the silverette, but all the she could do was continue to stare at the still body of her teammate. She heard the unmistakable fizzling noise that accompanied an aura being broken, followed by several quick slashes, and then a scream of pain. Then the sound of steel cutting through steel as another aura shattered, and then there was only silence. The night seemed to go still, as if in reverence to the grisly scene unfolding in Vacuo.

Footsteps came up behind Nichol, and she slowly turned around, almost as if she was in a trance, her spear hanging limply in her hands.

Sterling was there, his weapon reassembled, stepping right up in front of his sister, and looking at her with a stern expression.

Over his shoulder, the silverette could make out Maybelle. She was on the ground, laying still, splatters of blood on the cobblestone around her. She had numerous cuts covering the exposed skin on her arms and legs. It was impossible for Nichol to tell if she was even still alive from this distance.

Not far from the cow girl was Oran, also on the ground, but still moving, if only barely. He was currently trying to drag himself across the ground towards Sterling with his prosthetic hand, the other one was clutched at his side, or at least what was left of it was, the robotic limb reduced to just a foreman, the hand itself having been cleaved off cleanly.

Nichol took in the sight of her friends mangled bodies.

This was the grave that her hope had dug her.

Without a word, Sterling lashed out, driving his knee into his sisters torso and sending her down as well. As she fell, the assassin made sure to grab the spear from her hands, reclaiming the weapon for the second time that evening. He stood triumphantly over his fallen family member, looking down on her with a sick smile on his cut up face.

The silver haired man kneeled down. "You see what happens when you defy me, Nichol?" he said, gesturing to the carnage surrounding the two of them.

"Get away from her!" Oran shouted as he continued to slowly crawl towards his partner.

Sterling obviously didn't perceive the young faunus as a threat any longer, and didn't even raise his head to acknowledge him. "I'll tell you what's going to happen next, sister," he said, his voice taking on a disturbingly calm tone, "I'm going to drag each one of these filthy Grimmspawn over here, right in front of you, and then, I'm going to bleed them to death, slowly and personally, so you can truly realize the cost of your mistake." Sterling stood up straight. "And then, my dear sister, it will be your turn. You'll die knowing the pain you brought these creatures by merely knowing them, but not before we watch that eyesore..." he pointed to Shade Academy in the distance, "burn to the ground."

Nichol's eyes were half lidded, her expression black, any spark of life or resistance had been thoroughly and completely extinguished in her eyes. This new failure stung so much worse than the one she'd felt earlier when she'd lost her original encounter with Sterling. It was all her fault. Her friends were good, decent people who'd only wanted to help others by becoming Huntsmen, and she'd ruined there lives, just by existing.

There was a quiet, wet sounding cough from behind Nichol. It came from Oreonna, as she still laid on the cold, hard ground.

"Still alive?" Sterling said, sounding a little surprised, but unworried, "Well then, it sounds like we have our first volunteer. Never could stand to watch an animal suffer, after all."

The man with the scarred face began methodically walking to where the violinists prone form was. However, he was stopped when a hand wrapped around his ankle.

"Please..." Nichol begged, not even trying to hold back her tears anymore. "Please no... just... just leave them alone... and I'll..."

The silverette swallowed hard, the lump in her throat going down, but instantly reappearing. She knew there was only one way to end this now.

"...I'll go back with you."

This did manage to get Sterling's attention, he cocked his head to the side, looking intrigued by his sisters offer.

"No... Nichol, please, you don't-"

Oran was ignored by the silverette as she still clung tightly to her half brothers boot. "I'll come back to the Hand, I'll... I'll do whatever your want me to," Nichol begged, it was the only move she had left that would give her teammates a chance to get out of this. "Just please, Sterling... don't hurt my... my friends."

Friends...

That was the first time Nichol had ever referred to her teammates as such, out loud at least. Oran stopped his struggling and raised his head at the words, his own eyes starting to gloss over.

However, he wasn't the only one to react strongly to what his sister had said. Sterling looked down at his half sister, his eyebrows raised in shock at what she'd just said. Then, his look turned to disgust.

"Just when I thought you couldn't disappoint me any more..."

The scarred man ripped his foot free, before kicking the still aura-less Nichol right across the face with his metal grieve.

"No!" Oran shouted as he resumed clawing his way forward, one handed.

Nichol's head lolled to the side after being rocked by the kick. Her vision went blurry as she only barely remained conscious. A single trickle of blood began dripping down her face from the silverette's nose to the earth underneath.

"You break my heart, sister," Sterling went on, disappointment evident in his expression as he stepped over the girls prone form. "I see now that your time away from home has tainted you beyond saving. To see you having fallen so far, it is more than I can bear." He raised his blade into the air, its tip pointed downward at Nichol's neck.

"So I will end your suffering, as well as my own."

Nichol blinked a few times to try and regain focus, her head swimming, it was about all the movement she could muster at the moment. Her orange eyes managed to lock onto the sight of Oran, her partner, as he continued to desperately try and get to her.

In her slightly delirious state, Nichol couldn't help but notice he looked... wrong somehow... His face was all scrunched up into a scowl, his canine like ears flat on his head, and messy tears were staining his cheeks as he shouted at her to get up.

That... didn't sound like a a good idea to Nichol. She was... so tired... she'd just lay there for a while longer...

Still though, the look on Oran's face bothered her. That wasn't how her partner was supposed to look, that wasn't the face that always made her feel so... strange inside. No, Oran was supposed to light up any room he went into, his overwhelming, unbearable positivity shining in even the darkest moments. Maybe it was Nichol's fault he was upset? Yes, she was always so mean to him, making him sad. It wasn't fair, that wasn't how the silverette him to remember her.

And so, in her final moments, Nichol decided to give her partner one final gift.

She looked at him,

And she smiled.

She smiled so he'd know she would be okay, that it wasn't his fault things had gone this way, that she wanted him to be able to be happy again... someday.

Oran stared in disbelief at the sight he'd been trying to make appear for months now. He stopped his struggles, and with fresh tears running down his face, he smiled back at Nichol.

Yes, there it was.

That was the look Nichol loved...

Then Sterling brought his blade down.

...

...

...

Nichol thought... she thought there would be more pain, getting killed, she'd thought about it a lot before. So imagine her surprise when she barely even felt the blade stab into her...

In fact, she didn't feel anything at all. Well, not nothing, there was the ground under her, the cold night air, and of course the numerous aches and pains covering her body.

...

...

...

It wasn't until Nichol blinked a few times that she realized she was actually still quite alive.

Oran was no longer staring at his partner, but something to her far left.

Above, Sterling gave a grunt of frustration that got the silverette to finally turn her head to look up at him. Creeping Dread's blade was inches from her neck, but had been stopped apparently, by something wrapping around her half brothers forearm. It looked like... some kind of rope? No, as Nichol's vision started to clear she recognized the material was much more organic looking than rope, and she was then able to properly identify them.

They were vines.

Sterling's arm was suddenly ripped backwards, sending him stumbling away from Nichol with a shout of indignation.

"Do you think it's wise to threaten my students?"

Nichol recognized the voice almost immediately, but still her mouth hung open in surprise as she saw the figure the vines were coming from. They were coming out of the sleeve of an emerald colored dress, worn by a woman whose long antlers were looking even more intimidating than usual, assisted by the aggravated look in her wild green eyes.

Eden Evergreen gave a Sterling a patronizing smirk.

"If you only had a brain."

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A/N- Yeah, it's another cliffhanger... almost exactly like the last, actually... but hey, it was either end here, or end when Oreonna got shot. I think I chose the lesser of two evils here.

Anyway, I think I'm gonna do another chapter of Show Me How You Smile before I get back to this. I need some light, fluffy romance to help heal from writing this emotionally draining chapter.

I'll see you all soonish though. We're so close to the ending of this story, and I'm excited to finish it.

Please follow/review. I love hearing from you guys and I'm dying to know what you thought of all this.