Hello, readers. WaterDragonMaverick here with another chapter of "Sideline: Another Story". Last time, Azalea and Fragment Hunter made it to her home, Plum Blossom Farms. While there, we're introduced to Slate's grandma and grandpa, Carmelita and Vasco Quartz. We also get a small "funeral" for Penny, Pyrrha, and all the other characters that were lost in the Fall of Beacon. After that, we now move onto the next day and see what happens to get Lapis Ondine's vision restored.

Going down the rabbit hole!

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and was created by Monty Oum (R.I.P)

I only own my Original Characters made for this story


Morning came to Plum Blossom Farms and sunlight peeked through the curtains of Azalea's bedroom while she slept snugly in her bed. Hugging some of her stuffed animals, she would have slept through the whole day if a knock wasn't heard at her door. "Wake up, Azalea. It's time for breakfast," said her father, which immediately made the girl rise out of her warm and comfy bed.

"I'm up," Azalea exclaimed as she started to get her clothes for the day. As she chose what she wanted, she headed for the bathroom and found a small line for it. "Morning, girls," she said as she passed by Layla, Cereza, and Vinyl.

"Hey," the three greeted as they waited their turn for the bathroom, which was currently occupied.

"There's more than one bathroom, you know," Azalea stated before opening a door at the other end of the hall and stepping inside. After cleaning up and getting dressed in a pair of jeans and a large sweater, Azalea soon saw a line starting at the bathroom she just used. "All yours, Celadon," she told the blonde waiting by the door.

"Thank you, Azalea," she said before stepping inside and closing the door.

Looking at the others, Azalea noticed that there was one person she hasn't seen yet. "Where's Sunset," she asked before Vinyl and Rebecca pointed in the direction of Team SAFR's room. Opening the door, Azalea saw that Sunset was still asleep in her bed. "And they say I'm a heavy sleeper," Azalea dryly remarked before she saw Phoenix in a tank next to Sunset's bed. "I'm sure you can get her up, right," she asked the gecko.

The lizard nodded in reply before crawling out of the terrarium and landing on Sunset's head, startling the girl awake. "AAAAHHHH! I'm up! What's going on!?" As Sunset immediately got into a martial arts stance, she rubbed the sand out of her eyes to see what was happening, only to find Azalea laughing at her. "I'm sensing that the tables have turned on me somehow," she said to nobody in particular before Azalea left, wiping a tear from her eye.

Heading down into the kitchen, Azalea saw her mother cooking breakfast with Slate's mom and grandmother. "Good morning," Azalea greeted.

"Good morning, Sugarcube," Ivy answered back. "I'm making omelettes for breakfast today. Why don't you go check on the horses while we work."

"Okay, Mom," Azalea said as she went outside and made her way through the farm, passing by some Dire Sheep and reaching the stables after a while. Entering the stable, Azalea smiled as she saw the horses were taken good care of while she was at Beacon. "Hey, everyone. I'm home," Azalea said as she spoke to the equines. The animals all saw Azalea and were happy to see the Cow Faunus. "Let's give you some food," she voiced before making sure to feed all of the available horses.

Giving all the horses their oats for the morning, Azalea soon heard her father walking into the stable to check on her. "Morning, Princess," Terracotta greeted. "I heard from one of the farmhands last night that while we were getting back, we got a new arrival in the stable."

Gasping as she heard of a newborn foal, Azalea moved to another stall to see one of her favorite horses had given birth. "Awwww, Peony. You're a mom now," Azalea said as she saw the horse and her child. Stepping inside to gently pet the mare, Azalea smiled at the affectionate nuzzling before kneeling down to meet the baby. "Hi there, little lady," she said as she saw the foal was a girl. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you," she told the baby just as a few others entered the stable.

"What's going on," asked Slate as he, Percival, and Pinkie all walked in, only to be silenced by Terracotta. They soon looked at Azalea holding out her hand to the baby horse, who soon put her head into Azalea's palm.

Gently stroking the white foal's head and neck, Azalea thought of what to name the baby. "I think I'll call you... Snowdancer," Azalea said to the horse. "You like that name?" Her question was soon answered as the foal started to move around happily, almost as if dancing. "Welcome to the world, Snowdancer," Azalea said before the foal went back to her mother.

"Awwww, that's so cute," Pinkie voiced as Azalea faced them. "We have to tell the others at breakfast. I want to eat!"

"Okay, okay. Let's go," Slate said as the group left the stable, letting the horses eat in peace.


Later that morning, everyone gathered in the living room to discuss the situation with Lapis after Ivy received a call. "Now, Valerie called and said that she's ready to help as soon as she can. However, she needs to get the replacement eyes before that can happen," Ivy said.

"Do we have to play escort for a medical transport or something," Rua questioned.

"Actually, she said that there's somebody in town who can help," Ivy answered. "A scientist by the name of Cornelius Celestine recently moved here from Solitas and is willing to provide assistance because of some connections we already have," she stated as everyone's attention was now focused on Lazuli Ondine.

The Fish Faunus nodded before she spoke to everyone. "I can take you to see the guy, but I'll just warn you now. He can be a bit of a handful because of his work. You'll see what I mean," Lazuli stated.

Team SLVR all looked at each other before Silver spoke up. "Okay, some of us go to this Cornelius guy with Lazuli and we take Lapis to the doctor," the Wolf Faunus said.

Everyone nodded before Fragment Hunter split into two groups. Team SLVR, Celadon, Rebecca, and Percival went with Terracotta and Ivy to the clinic in Mirabelle. At the same time, Lazuli took Vinyl, Sunset, Pinkie, and Team FCSA to find Cornelius Celestine. Leaving the farm and reaching town, the two groups went their separate ways before regrouping at the clinic. "Come on, let's go ask around," Lazuli said as she led the teenagers around town. After asking for directions, the group soon reached a building that was labelled 'Rabbit Hole Labs'.

"Think this is it," Layla asked as she shivered in the cold.

Lazuli took out her Dust Driver and looked at the rabbit emblem on it, seeing it matched the logo on the sign before everyone heard a muffled explosion from inside. "Yup, this is his place alright," Lazuli remarked before putting her Dust Driver away and knocking on the door. "Hey, we're here to pick something up for Doctor Valerie Whitethorn," she says.

The group heard some coughing before the windows opened to let some air inside the building. "Come in," said a young man's voice. Opening the door and waiting for some of the smoke to flow out, Team FCSA and their companions soon walked in and saw all kinds of scientific tools and metal objects lying around. "Mochi, I'm going to get some water. Talk to our guest in the meantime," the man said before everyone heard his footsteps walking away and a door close.

Soon, everyone's eyes fell on something calmly and carefully approach them. Walking toward them at a slow pace to avoid bumping into any items was a large white balloon-like robot with a bell-shaped head. When it was standing in front of the group, it gave a polite wave of its hand. "Hello. I am the Medical Operation Cybernetic Helper 1st Model," the balloon said in a calm and peaceful voice as a section of its round body projected the name of itself for everyone to see. "But you may call me, Mochi," the machine said as the name became an anagram that spelled 'M.O.C.H.-1'.

Most of the group was confused by what looked like a giant walking marshmallow, but Azalea and Pinkie gasped happily as they looked at the robot. "He's so cute," the two girls exclaimed.

"This is new," Lazuli remarked as she tilted her head at the robot, who tilted his head in a curious manner. After another minute of silence from everyone except Pinkie, who was squealing in delight at the huggable-looking robot, the sound of a door opening caught everyone's attention and somebody stepped into view.

The man who arrived was a Rabbit Faunus with bright red hair, blue eyes, lightly tanned skin, and stood at about 6 feet tall without his rabbit ears, which added another 5 inches to his height. He wore a white lab coat over a blue and red shirt with diagonal stripes and a large gear-like design on the chest. He also wore black pants, red and blue shoes, and a belt buckle that had the same cannon-eared rabbit logo as the Dust Driver and the building. "Lazuli! I didn't expect to see you so soon," the Faunus said happily.

"Guys, this is Cornelius Celestine," Lazuli said as she introduced the Faunus. "He's the guy that's going to help make my sister see again."

"Oh yeah. With what I have for her, she'll be better than before," Cornelius stated. "Mochi, go get the box in the back room on Project Table 2."

"Of course," the big white robot said as he started to move through the room, trying to reach his destination.

As everyone watched the robot carefully move through the lab, Cornelius spoke up. "Now! While we wait for him to get back, how'd you guys like to see my new brilliant inventions," he asked as he shook his head around, searching for what to show everyone and messing up his hair. "Aha! This one," he exclaimed as he dug through a nearby shelf, tossing random boxes in the way and unintentionally stopping Mochi when several landed in the robot's path. "Behold! I've been working on a special upgrade to firearms," Cornelius said as he showed everyone a revolving chamber for a gun. "Now while some people prefer Dust Bullets, it can be a hassle to reload some weapons or switch to what Dust you need. That's why this can be added onto a pistol to let them simply change to what ammo they need without having to empty your gun entirely!" As the Rabbit Faunus went on about his invention, Slate was very intrigued by the idea and thought it would be perfect for upgrading his weapon, Desperado.

As Cornelius kept talking with Slate interested, the girls all checked the rest of the lab out. Cereza soon saw some shoes that were apparently lined with Gravity Dust and sticking to walls and the ceiling. "Now this is more my style," Cereza remarked.

"Oh yeah, I've been working on ways for traversing obstacles or giving people a method of doing work with some more ease. I thought that if they didn't need to worry about falling, they'd be able to accomplish things. So, why not put Gravity Dust in footwear? I've been working on it and things are going well," Cornelius said just before some shoes fell off the ceiling and landed in front of Mochi.

"Oh no," Mochi voiced as a boot fell and ended up knocking down a box of scrap metal set aside. Layla saw what happened and used her Semblance to gather the materials before moving them aside for the robot. "Thank you," he politely said before managing to enter the back room.

While everyone checked more of the lab out, Pinkie found a nozzle of some kind with a trigger. "Oh, what's this do," she asked before pressing down on the object. When she did, a sticky substance flew through the air and ended up hitting Vinyl in the face, knocking off her sunglasses. "Sorry," Pinkie apologized before noticing that Vinyl's sunglasses were covered in something similar to a spider web. "Wow! That's so cool!"

Cornelius and Azalea saw what Pinkie was talking about and the Rabbit Faunus chuckled excitedly as he ran his hands through his hair, messing it up more. "Now this is something I've had plenty of inspiration for," he exclaimed as he showed the girls the item. "This invention is something I like to call the 'Silk Shooter'. Some Faunus have the traits of spiders, which means a few can actually create webbing. After meeting some in my travels, I wondered what it would be like if humans or other Faunus could make their own webs. So, I did studies about Spider Faunus, various arachnids and insects, and even looked at some comics to see if the science for some heroes was accurate enough," Cornelius stated.

"You mean like Silversilk and Violet Spider," Azalea remarked, knowing the types of heroes in comics that Cornelius was talking about. "I love reading those stories."

"This device could really help with how versatile the webbing can be," Cornelius told everyone before Mochi waddled back inside carrying a box. "Perfect! Thanks, Mochi."

"You are welcome," the robot said as he handed the box to Lazuli. "These new prosthetic eyes will allow the recipient to have their vision restored after they are properly implanted."

"Thanks. This means a lot to us," Sunset told Cornelius. "After the Fall of Beacon happened, we wanted to find a way for Lapis to see again."

Cornelius nodded before he spoke to everyone. "I understand. After I heard about Beacon, I wanted to try making as many inventions as I could so I could help people. Luckily, I've been getting plenty of funding from the Stonehaven Foundation for my research projects. Mochi is one of them," he said as he gestured to the robot. "I made him as a healthcare companion, but he's great as a lab assistant. Besides, I need to work all the bugs out."

"I do not detect any sort of insect or arachnid in the building," Mochi stated as another projection appeared on his stomach, showing an image of a crossed-out fly.

"Case in point, he needs his vocabulary expanded," Cornelius remarked.

"But he's so big and huggable," Pinkie said before glomping Mochi, squeezing the large balloon-like robot tightly before he returned the hug.

"Pinkie, we need to get going. The sooner we get to the clinic, the better for Lapis," Slate told his sister.

"But Slaaate, he's so soft and squishy! Can we bring him along," Pinkie moaned before asking her brother to bring the robot along like it was a puppy she found.

"My primary directive is to assist in healthcare. It would be logical for me to accompany you to the Hathor Healing Clinic," Mochi stated.

"Well, you heard Mecha Marshmallow. Let's get going," Sunset told everyone before they headed off.


Across Mirabelle, Team SLVR was waiting in the Hathor Healing Clinic alongside Terracotta, Ivy, Percival, Rebecca, and Celadon. "How much longer do we have to sit here," Vixen complained. "I'm getting bored."

"It won't be much longer," Ivy said. "She'll be here soon enough."

After another minute, the sound of shoes clicking against the floor alerted everyone to the arrival of the head doctor of the clinic. "Ivy. Terracotta. I take it you brought my new patient with you," the doctor said with a smile on her pink lips. The members of Fragment Hunter all looked at the doctor and took in her appearance. She was a tall woman at 5'10" and had a tanned hourglass figure that looked like it was nearly as good as Ivy's. Her dark hair fell down to her toned waist and was in a ponytail. She wore a teal sleeveless sweater, a white doctor's coat, a short black skirt, and a pair of heeled sandals. "Hello there, I'm Doctor Valerie Whitethorn," she said to the teenagers as she held out a hand, which let everyone notice her light pink/purple nail polish. "I take it this girl is who I'm here to help," she questioned as she looked at Lapis.

"Yeah, she is," Silver said as he tried to look away from the beautiful doctor.

Inspecting Lapis' eyes at the start, Doctor Whitethorn took her into a room for privacy so she could check her better. After a while, she came back out and spoke to everyone. "Her eyesight is very poor and she'll definitely need to have artificial eyes implanted if she wants to continue being a Huntress," she stated. "As soon as we receive the item we need, we can start as soon as possible. Until then, we wait."

Vixen and Rua moaned in boredom while the rest sighed. Passing the time by reading magazines in the waiting room or playing games on their Scrolls, the group was anxious until Lazuli Ondine came inside. "We have them," she exclaimed as she gave the box to a doctor, who immediately rushed them to its destination. As the clinic prepared for the upcoming surgery, Lazuli was taken to her sister and hugged her tightly. "You'll be okay, Lappy," the Fish Faunus told her sister. "You'll get to see me again soon."

"I hope so," Lapis said in an understandably worried tone as she was about to be operated on.

"Do not worry," said Mochi as he walked into the room. "My analysis of Doctor Whitethorn's medical operations show that her surgeries are 95.8% successful," he stated as a projection of the number appeared on his body.

"Who's that," Lapis asked as the only thing she saw was a white blur.

"He's a healthcare companion," Lazuli told her sister. "He's here to help."

"Affirmative," Mochi confirmed. "I shall assist Doctor Whitethorn as she works restore your eyesight." Lapis was still wary as she started to shudder anxiously. "It is okay to be scared. Fear is natural in unknown situations," Mochi stated. "It is what you do when faced with it that shows what your behavior truly is."

Lapis couldn't help but agree with Mochi before she heard somebody knocking on the doorframe. "Lapis, it's time," a nurse said.

"Already," Lapis questioned with fear still in her voice.

"Lapis, listen to me," Lazuli said as she hugged her sister. "You faced off against Grimm, the White Fang, and other threats. Some of which while you still couldn't see well. This is nothing. Remember all those old mineshafts you explored as a kid? You're a brave girl and I know you'll make it through this. And when you do, I want to see my face and how happy I am to know you're fine."

Hearing her big sister try to cheer her up made Lapis smile and she was soon taken to the operating room. "Hopefully, I can actually see you soon, Laz," Lapis told her sister before the nurse took her.

"I hope so, too," Lazuli thought as Mochi went to join the doctors, nurses, and Lapis in the operating room.


It was a long and anxiety-filled wait as Fragment Hunter all tried to calm their nerves about Lapis' operation. As they messed around with their Semblances, played games on their Scrolls, or read magazines in the waiting room, the members of Fragment Hunter were barely able to control themselves. Even with Gin Aurum now stopping by, the group was still on edge, waiting for any sort of update. To distract herself from her thoughts, Azalea was reading a magazine about local insects. "The Silversilk Butterfly is among one of the most unique insects in Remnant as while a caterpillar and in its imago form, it has the ability to produce threads similar to spider silk from its mouth and backside. This allows it to fend off predators and move quickly to its next source of food," Azalea read aloud, hoping to distract everyone else as well.

"I've heard about those before," Celadon commented. "Usually in Mistral, they're used to make silk for clothing. I'm surprised that an insect is capable of something spiders normally do."

"Yeah, it's pretty interesting," Gin voiced.

After hearing about that, Sunset began to start a new topic. "You know, every group has a 'Mom Friend' and if yours doesn't have one, you're that role. For the last while, I've started seeing Azalea that way."

Azalea was surprised by the comment and looked at everyone in the room. "Really," she asked. All of Fragment Hunter nodded, including Pinkie and Percival.

"Well, I wouldn't blame her," Ivy remarked with a smirk on her lips. "I've always been that way with my friends growing up."

"Aurora was Team NOCT's," Terracotta added.

Pinkie started to giggle at the idea of the topic. "Slate, you can't go kill Grimm until you've eaten all your bat stew," she joked in an attempt at a motherly voice.

The teenagers started to chuckle at what Pinkie said, but Vixen thought of something better. "Alright, I hope everyone had a healthy breakfast this morning because we'll be traveling to the next village to act as security. And before we go, does anybody have to use the bathroom," she said with a perfect imitation of Cereza's voice. This made everyone burst into laughter, including Cereza.

"I'll admit, that was pretty good," Cereza told the others.

Soon, a blonde nurse stepped out of the nearby doors and spoke to everyone. "The surgery is finished. Your friend is resting now," she told everyone.

Immediately when she said that, most of Fragment Hunter all went to find out what room she was in and were soon stopped by Doctor Whitethorns wearing medical scrubs instead of her earlier outfit. "Just hold on," the doctor said. "We don't need Miss Ondine to wake up immediately after her surgery."

"She's our friend," Sunset replied.

"Our teammate," Silver added.

"We just want to be there for her," Layla stated.

Doctor Whitethorn was about to argue, but seeing Ivy walk toward the teenagers changed her mind when she had an idea. "Perhaps it would be better if Ivy went in first," she suggested. "After all, I was with her and Terracotta when she discovered her Semblance."

Hearing this, Ivy had to agree with what her friend was implying. "I couldn't help with her eyes before because I was overusing my Semblance to help others. But it's different this time," Ivy said as she walked into Lapis' hospital room. With the girl resting in bed wearing a hospital gown and her sister watching over her, Ivy placed her hands over her bandaged eyes and used her Semblance to help heal the girl. As light shined from the woman's palms, Lazuli saw Lapis begin to stir in the bed. After another few seconds, Ivy pulled her hands back. "There. Now we just have to remove the bandages," Ivy stated.

"That would normally in inadvisable," stated Mochi as he waddled into the room. "However, your Semblance's ability of regeneration acceleration has made Lapis' optic nerves successfully interface with her new artificial eyes." Hearing that, Lazuli immediately went to remove Lapis' bandages while the others started to gather in the room.

After the cloth was removed, Lapis began to open her eyes. When she did, they were now a brilliant blue color instead of their original white and when the others looked closely enough, they appeared to a resemblance to camera lenses. When she fully opened her eyes, she saw what resembled a HUD in her vision before blinking and it went away. When it did, her vision was focused on her big sister and the two smiled at each other. "Lazuli. Everyone. I can see again," Lapis said as her smile grew bigger. "I can see!"

The members of Fragment Hunter were all happy to see their friend is back to normal, but nobody was happier than Lazuli, who gave her sister a tight embrace and started to cry in joy. "I was so worried about you," the elder Ondine sister told the girl. "I'm glad you're okay now. I love you, Lapis."

"I love you too, Lazuli," Lapis said as she started to shed her own tears.

As everyone was happy for the sisters, Cornelius Celestine scratched his head as he thought about something. "Did I make those eyes waterproof," he pondered.

"You did," Mochi said as he brought up a projection of the robot eye blueprints for the Rabbit Faunus.

"Well then, I suppose that we just need to make sure the eyes work to their full capabilities," Cornelius remarked with an excited smile as he messed up his hair again.

"A proper eye exam will be the initial diagnostic test," Mochi said, prompting Lapis to look at him.

"Why's there a giant marshmallow in my room," she asked.

"Hello. I am Mochi. A personal healthcare companion," the robot explained. "I was built to aid in the recovery of those who need it and to assist my creator in his lab."

"We can have you talk with him while we go with your final check-up," Doctor Whitethorn stated as she was changed back into her normal outfit. "Move along, everyone. And thank you, Ivy."

"It's no trouble, Valerie. Just make sure that Lapis is healthy enough to leave. I'm sure the others want to show her Mirabelle," Ivy said. "Now about paying for everything."

"There's no need," the doctor said. "Mason Stonehaven heard about it and offered to pay for Miss Ondine's treatment." Hearing about who was willing to pay the clinic fees, the members of Fragment Hunter thought that they needed to eventually speak with Azalea's uncle to thank him. "Now if you'd all be kind enough to leave, I can give your friend a clean bill of health sooner," Whitethorn told Fragment Hunter.

"Okay," Sunset and Silver said before all of the teenagers left.

As Lapis watched her friends and sister leave the room, she caught her reflection in a nearby mirror and saw her hair was longer than she wanted it. "I need to get a trim later," she said to herself before Doctor Whitethorn and Mochi got to work on checking her vision while Cornelius Celestine waited to explain the features of the eyes.


Leaving the clinic, the members of Fragment Hunter all felt like a weight was lifted off their shoulders when Lapis could finally see clearly again. "Thank the Brothers that's over with," Silver said as he was happy his friend and teammate was feeling better.

"Yeah, Lapis is going to be okay now thanks to Ivy," Rua voiced.

"I had to make up for not being able to help her back at Beacon," Ivy remarked with a smile, happy to know she was able to do something to make amends for her previous attempt.

Soon, everyone was heading through the town square and Thomas Huckleberry saw them. "How's it going, folks," the sheriff asked as he saw Fragment Hunter. "I take it the doctor helped your friend?"

Terracotta nodded as he turned to the sheriff. "Yup. Lapis just has to get one final checkup, then she's good to go from what it looks like," the Bull Faunus said.

"Well, that's good to hear," Thomas says. "Now if you're looking for work, I can check some things over at the department for you to help with. Huntsmen have to eat, too," he states, willing to help Terracotta and Fragment Hunter out.

"That depends. Are we going to get paid or is it going to count as school credit with us," Rua questioned, remembering the differences between students on missions and actual Huntsmen jobs.

"Might be based on who you help and what deals you make with them," the sheriff said before he felt something grab his leg. Looking down, everyone saw a young boy with the same brown hair and indigo eyes as Thomas Huckleberry clinging to his leg and hiding from the teenagers. "Sawyer, there's no reason to be scared of them. Azalea was your babysitter before," he said as he picked up the boy.

"Is that your son," Cereza asked.

"Yup. My kid, Sawyer Huckleberry. He turns 6 in the summer," Thomas told the teenagers.

Sawyer avoided everyone's gaze, but soon ended up looking at Azalea, who smiled and waved at the boy. Sawyer smiled back and laughed as he saw the Cow Faunus. "Hi, Sawyer. How's Finn, by the way," Azalea said before asking the sheriff about his other son.

"You know 13-year olds. They're going through a lot with puberty and their awkward phases," Thomas said.

"And if he's anything like when we were kids, he's bound to be shy around pretty girls," Ivy chuckled as she remembered her childhood with Thomas Huckleberry. The sheriff gave a nervous laugh as he scratched his beard. "I still remember when you first saw me as a girl. You couldn't look at me without blushing for weeks. You were a cute wallflower when Whitney, Valerie, and I were around," she teased. "You were the talk of the town when all four of us were together and all the other boys were jealous."

Terracotta chuckled as his wife talked about her childhood. "With so many pretty girls as his friends, who wouldn't be jealous," the Bull Faunus remarked. "I bet they say the same thing about you," he added while looking at Slate, Silver, and Percival.

The three boys all thought about it while either rubbing the back of their head, putting their hands in their pockets, or averting their gaze from the others. "Well, my teammates are pretty," Percival remarked as he thought about his teammates from Vacuo, Team PRDT.

"Hey, I already have a girlfriend," Slate stated as he and Azalea looked at each other. When they did, Azalea blushed with a smile on her face while Slate looked away and focused on Silver. "He does, too."

"Speaking of, how is Bianca," Azalea asked about her childhood friend. Her question was soon answered when Bianca came into view wearing a long-sleeved sweater and thermal leggings. "Bianca, we were just talking about you," Azalea said to the Dove Faunus.

"Hi, Azalea. Hey, guys. Hi, Silver," Bianca greeted, sounding more flirtatious when speaking to Silver, making the Wolf Faunus blush a little while his tail wagged behind him. "How's everything going? Where's Lapis?"

"She just got her eyes replaced," Rua stated. "She's doing okay now."

"Oh, that's good to hear," Bianca sighed as she heard the news.

"Yup. She's still at the clinic getting everything finished up," Layla said.

While the teenagers all started getting into their own conversations, Terracotta spoke with Thomas Huckleberry. "Tom, I need a little help with something. I'm looking for my old teammate, Orchid Tilia. Have you seen any Gecko Faunus matching her description lately," the Huntsman asked as he showed a picture of Orchid to the sheriff.

The sheriff looked at the picture while his son mimicked the older man. "Not lately, but I can do some digging and help you out," he said. "Any reason why you're looking for her?"

"Percival might be her kid and he wants to at least meet her before returning to Vacuo," Terracotta stated.

"Got it," Thomas said. "I'll see if she's been around lately. A Huntress has to pick up some work on her travels, so I'll check missions she accepted."

"Thanks, Tom. And if you're going to do all of this, I'm sure Azalea wouldn't mind looking after your kids," Terracotta told the man.

"Thanks for the offer," Sheriff Huckleberry replied. "For now, I've actually got to started before taking you up on it."

"Fair enough," the Bull Faunus remarked. "See you later, then," he said before the sheriff gave a tip of his hat and walked off with his son waving to the group. Just as he left, Terracotta heard somebody else approach the group.

Everyone soon turned toward the sound of snow crunching under somebody's feet and saw Lapis Ondine was reunited with everyone. "It's good to be back," Lapis said as she saw everyone and enjoyed the view of Mirabelle.


Inside a dark office, several men were hidden in shadows as one sat at a desk, looking at them with a golden eye shining in what light there was. "Gentlemen, I assume you know why I called you here," the man with the golden eye said to his associates. "Our previous business venture was unfortunately shut down by some Huntsmen that happened upon the location."

"And managed to break my Scroll Jammer, Kintsugi," said one of the five men in the room, who had a tattoo on his forehead that resembled a strange eye.

"Please, call me Auric," the man with the gold eye insisted. "I've called you hear as I had an associate identify the group responsible," Auric stated, placing down a Scroll and showing several pictures from the 40th Vytal Festival Tournament. The members of Team SLVR, Team FCSA, Team SAFR, and Percival Ivory were all shown on the device that the group looked at. "Most are just students, but they're still capable. There was also some professional Huntsmen there, but I only managed to get two identified," Auric said as he showed Ventus and Terracotta in their duel at the Vytal Festival. "These two are going to be harder to handle than the children," he stated.

As the group studied the photos, one in a Grimm mask similar to the White Fang looked at Terracotta's photo with interest. "This one will be a challenge," the masked man voiced.

"Oh, he will be, Kane," Auric stated. "If you see them intruding on our projects again, do what you wish. I don't want to lose any profits from them getting too involved."

"It'll be fun to take care of them," said a third man as a dark cloud formed in his hand before clenching it into a fist and snuffing it out.

"Good. You can all go," Auric said. As most of the group left, the masked man stayed behind. "Kane, is there anything I can help you with," Auric asked. The masked man only pointed at his chest, which Auric immediately realized what he meant. "Ah, yes. Don't worry, I fixed it up for you," he said as he opened a drawer and pulled out a locket. "Consider this payment for dealing with Valentino's goons for me earlier. Man, I hate that guy," Auric told Kane as he gave the man the item. When Kane opened it up, he touched the picture on the inside with sorrowful body language. "I know your pain, big guy. But I still have something to remember her by," Auric stated as he talked about somebody, then grabbed the picture of the girl on his desk. "You went down this path to try and get help, but it was too late after what happened. If we met sooner, I would have helped out."

"I know," Kane stated before putting the locket on and hiding it underneath his shirt. "Thank you," he said before he left the office.

Soon, Auric was left alone to think about what to do if he was the one to encounter the members of Fragment Hunter. But as he did, he checked his schedule and noticed labeled 'S.H.F. Charity Event'. Looking at it, he started talking to himself. "That really coming up soon? Well, at least I know what it'll be for this time. They might be annoying to me, but I have appearances to keep up. I'll need to message them about my arrival," he said with a smirk, showing off a gold tooth.


And now with this chapter, Lapis has new robotic eyes. Rather than ones similar to Maria Calavera, these ones are more like a blue version of Penny's own eyes. I'll get to explaining what capabilities they have in the next chapter. If you want to try and guess what they can do, feel free to say what you think.

We also met not only Doctor Valerie Whitethorn after several mentions of her in the story, but also the inventor of the Dust Driver, Cornelius Celestine. I wanted to introduce him as a way of getting new equipment upgrades for Fragment Hunter in another chapter as well as showing who gave Lapis her new eyes. Also, if you think Mochi reminds you of Baymax from "Big Hero 6", that was my intention because it would have been fun to see what kind of non-combat robots could be in Remnant.

The scene at the end with those people in the office is something I wanted to set up for an eventual battle when everyone's finished relaxing at Mirabelle and want to get back into the action. Auric and Kane are the main two in that scene I want to get focusing on soon enough because there's more to them than what they initially look like. And while I hinted at Auric since the end of the dogfighting ring, Kane is somebody that was foreshadowed for a little longer. About a dozen chapters to be exact. We'll meet him and get his full story eventually.

Now, I hope you enjoyed the scenes I made in this chapter because in the next one, I'll be focusing on Azalea once again. Mainly her, but definitely something to help change things up for Fragment Hunter now that Lapis can see clearly again. After all, everyone's in a new town and Azalea's been talking about quite a few things in it. Not only that, but Azalea has gone through so much since leaving home for a while and is ready to show how much she changed. So, get ready for Chapter 63 and what it has to offer.

Make sure to leave a review if you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time, WaterDragonMaverick signing out.