I never liked the talking dog trope. Sorry Red XIII fans but no talking dogs in this story.

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The dog wasn't a problem. Not nearly as much as it could be or that I thought it would be. It was a smart dog which was trouble in its own right in some ways. Smart animals were often lazy in a queer fashion. Smart people could be the same way.

It had already seen combat and so it knew Grimm. Other simple commands for the animal were easy to instill: stay, come, sit, lay down, heel, fetch. But there were harder commands I wanted the creature to master: track this, point me. I also should familiarize the animal with guns and dust. The last thing I needed was a nervous dog beside me on the battlefield, especially one as big as Red.

Rosé adored the dog. She would lay beside it and stroke it's dark brown fur, running her fingers over its head and scratching its ears. She would rub the chin and neck and it would savor her touch. When she stopped petting it the animal would ask for more attention by setting its paw on her leg or arm. Rosé and the dog got along famously. If I was the animal's master then she was it's best friend.

It was smart and it was abused. That was a tricky combination. But then so was I. It required patience. It needed time to learn that it was safe with me. It needed to be shown that I wasn't like Merlot. And I did have the time to give it what it needed. I would train the animal with Rosé's help in the mornings and evenings and I would train Rosé as well though she was able to be a little more independent with her workouts now. That gave me time to work with the dog.

I was really stretching my hours but it had to be done right. It had fallen into my care and it was up to me to be responsible. I hated that. I was responsible for yet another thing in my crazy fucking life. And the dog had to be taught to use it's semblance if it ever developed one. Rosé wasn't alone in that regard. What a terrible thing to be, responsible.

I was thrown once more into uncharted waters. But that seemed to be pretty much the norm for my life. I was constantly in one dire straight or another at every moment awake or asleep. I wasn't sure why I thought things would become less intense. I guess that one was on me. Silly Cloud. Would you ever learn? Probably not.

The point was that the dog wasn't a problem. I was familiar with trying things I had never done before and training a hunting dog could well be among them. Plus I could see the utility of a hunting dog. How often had I wandered for miles looking for one particular Grimm? Too many. Far, far too many. A dog could change that for me. It could change pretty much everything and open up a host of options that I would totally have no access to if I didn't have one. Like if I had a hunting dog then Merlot wouldn't have escaped from me. I would have caught him. But that meant training and reinforcement. It took discipline to train in any regard.

The dog walked beside the horses as we rode. Neo sat behind me as usual. Her thoughts on the dog were hard to determine but I didn't make it her problem in any sense so she had no real room to complain. She seemed to get along with it. She just could take it or leave it, that's what my interpretation was, at any rate. Unlike Rosé who adored the dog and who was loved right back.

Rosé was progressing well with her own training. She was getting faster and stronger as the days went by. She learned to shield her body with her aura. Pain and I were her teachers both. I made sure she wouldn't forget to shield herself in battle. She had more than average aura, I would say. More than Weiss, Ruby, or Blake but less than Yang and I. It put her in the position that she could tank a number of hits in a real skirmish and she wouldn't have to be stingy about when she took them but she would have to be careful. I made sure that she knew that she wasn't invincible just because she had aura and a weapon now.

I really made sure she knew that. Yuma Kisaragi had had that problem when I ran into her. Peach had her own spree of arrogance or at least she had boldness. My student would have none of that. I'd seen it in my own generation in Cardin Winchester and his team. By the gods, I hadn't thought about him in a long time. Other things had been on my mind rather than him.

Back then I hadn't known my life was fake yet. Back then Pyrrha was alive. Back then I had been infatuated with Weiss. Maybe not everything had changed. I wonder if Cardin is dead. Could be. He wasn't very good. I hadn't been either and I had only survived by chance. I wouldn't call what I went through lucky but I did have a bit of chance or happenstance. It only happened that I was still alive. My old bully could be stone cold gone. Especially if he fought in Beacon's fall. I didn't know whether or not he did. Probably not any more than I had and I barely did anything. I hardly survived. I was still a bit bitter about being alive, that kiss, that fucking locker. What a confusing and terrible day that had been. Life was strange and it had only grown stranger.

We crossed over a river by taking a stone bridge. The water gurgled underneath us as we passed by. The trees around us were in full leaf.

It was difficult to say how far we were from Vale. I measured distance using days instead of kilometers. And who knows how many more small settlements would take days of our time for help. I thought we were making good progress and there was still half a year until Beacon accepted new students come autumn. That was assuming the school was standing once more. It might remain in near ruin with a giant dragon perched on top of it. I wouldn't know. I hadn't seen Beacon in more than a year. I hadn't heard anything either with communication being what it was with the tower down. They might not be reopening the school. That was okay though. Rosé could still be a huntress even if she didn't get to go to Beacon.

I knew she had her heart set on the place but there were alternatives. Shade, Atlas, or Haven. Probably other less famous ones as well. But she could make it into one of the big four if I pushed her properly. Not that I had anything against Beacon. Beacon was the best. But there was no reason to ask for Beacon and only Beacon if she could be welcomed into another school as well. On the off chance she couldn't get into Beacon or if the school wasn't opening its doors in the fall, then it made sense for her to try her luck at another institution.

Her heart seemed set on Beacon, however, I wasn't sure why?

I resolved to ask her.

"Rosé?"

"Yes, sir?" I shuddered. So respectful. No real reason for that. I thought I quashed that over respect.

"It's just Cloud. Cloud and only Cloud," I informed her rather firmly.

She just looked at me while she rode easily. She waited for me to tell her what I wanted to ask her without correcting herself.

"Why do you want to go to Beacon? I mean why Beacon and not some other school?"

"I…Beacon always stood out to me. I always seemed lost whenever I thought about my dreams and the place is a giant lighthouse. It just seemed inevitable that I would go there if I was going to be a huntress. So I guess it sort of drew me in. So whenever I felt lost I would think about the school. My brother was going to go there. He went to Signal. That's where he was when the attack happened. But I suppose he moved on with his training. It always seemed like he was going to go to Beacon. So I think it was sort of inevitable in my head. Does that make sense?"

"A little. I just was wondering because I wanted you to know your options. Beacon is just one of them. By the time autumn comes you'll have your pick of schools."

"Could I continue to train under you? If I didn't get into Beacon or decided that I didn't want to?"

I blanched a little. "I'm not sure… I never really saw myself as a teacher. If you had your pick of schools I think you should take them up on it."

"So you wouldn't keep me around if that's what I wanted?"

"I'd have to think about it. I… can't really see myself saying 'no.' You're my responsibility. I would probably keep training you. I would consider one of the schools, though. That would be a good experience for you. Get a team and a partner and all that jazz. I thought you wanted that," I wondered a little.

"I did. Want that I mean. Or at least I thought I did. But I'm learning so much from you. I don't want that to stop. I… I would miss you."

"I'm not the end all be all. And I'm not dying. Anyways we could stay in contact. Especially if communication gets up and running again. And I just want you to know that you have options. What if Beacon isn't opening its doors in fall? I just want you to be ready for that kind of thing. Just in case."

"I'll keep it in mind. But I think Beacon is the school for me."

"That's all I wanted to know."

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"Live hand," I reminded Rosé as we spared. Her left hand was out hanging as though it was a part of her defenses. At my phrase she snapped her hand back to her chest nice and close where it was protected and safe.

We clashed a little. I telegraphed a thrust at her and she pushed my longsword aside with a turn of her wrist and hips. Then she countered with a horizontal slash towards my neck.

I brought my weapon up and blocked it. She swung down at me diagonally next and I parried that too.

I shoulder checked her in response. I did it fairly lightly but still hard enough to knock her over if she was unsteady. She was buffeted and forced to push-shuffle her feet back to remain standing, but she did remain standing.

She shuffled back towards me with sharp footwork and stabbed her blade forward and down at me in an angle that was hard to block without helping her turn the thrust into a diagonal slash.

So I didn't block. I stepped back and to the side and moved my own feet quickly. I could have flown but there was no reason to do so and most of her opponents wouldn't be able to fly. I shouldn't train her for flying opponents, then.

As I stepped to the side I swung a waist height horizontal slash at her. An angle three as I had taught her and Pyrrha had taught me. She blocked by dropping her weapon in a vertical fashion. She was breathing hard with training in rust red dirt. There were sparse grasses of yellow color in the dry field. This place didn't get a lot of rainfall. There was the occasional cactus on the open plain we fought on.

Red XIII watched with his paws overlapping one another. Tongue out and panting with a giant doggy grin, he lay examining us closely. It was of critical importance to him that he be there just in case Rosé needed something. Even if it meant defending her from me. That dog knew where it's bread was buttered and she was so soft and loving with the animal. She was its person. It loved her.

I really wasn't sure who the dog thought it belonged to. It obeyed me but it also obeyed Rosé. It followed her around camp and let her stroke its fur and scratch it on the neck.

The animal watched us clash with attentive eyes in that regard. I think it was ready to defend Rosé the moment I took it too far.

I never did even as I kicked Rosé's leg out from under her. She hit the rust colored earth. The animal got up at that and walked over to get between us and it licked her on the arm. She tried to push it away but just leaned into her touch with doggy excitement.

I held a hand down and Rosé took it. I easily pulled her all the way to her feet. She was only one hundred thirty pounds with her sword, in full gear, soaking wet. She wasn't heavy. At least not to me and I was able to lift her up with one hand all the way off the ground. I could probably bench press five of her. Crocea Mors weighed more than she did by something like thirty pounds.

Tiny huntresses. Tiny huntresses everywhere. Neo, Ruby, Weiss, Rosé, and even Nora. Nora had been short as fuck. Her energy had made her seem larger. I shuddered as I remembered sheathing my enormous blade in her tiny body. The smile that had been on my face fell to pieces.

Rosé had had a grin but it flattened. "What? What is it?" She wondered.

"It's… it's nothing…" I tried to parry but I didn't have the energy.

Rosé crossed her arms at me. I sighed.

"I just… I just was reminded of my team. And how they died. It still makes me sad whenever I think about it. It happens sometimes. It's nothing to be concerned about."

"You haven't told me how they died. You said that it was Merlot's fault. But nothing else."

"And I'm not going to. I don't want to think about it. Please Rosé let it alone. Drop it. I was thinking about all the small huntresses I know. Like you and Neo and one of my teammates named Nora. It reminded me. I got sad. Now I don't want to think about it anymore."

"You're never going to feel better if you can't talk about it. Repressing it won't do you any good in the long run."

I probably didn't have a long run. But...

"I really don't want to talk about how they died. Alright? Damn it Rosé."

The dog growled at my tone. I ignored it. Red XIII could be upset for all I cared.

"Well then talk to me about how they lived."

I sighed. I rubbed my face with one hand. My sword dropped in the other until the tip was in the dust.

"Ren and Nora never got to be together. They were together but not 'together together.' But they could have been. They just never got the opportunity to figure each other out before the end. They both wanted it. They just weren't sure how to make it happen. They confessed that to me separately before they died. Ren would cook for Nora and Nora would speak for Ren. He hardly ever spoke but it gave his words weight. He usually let Nora talk in his stead. And Pyrrha, my partner, she was vibrant. She had a nice laugh that was rare to hear. I bet her that if no one asked her to the dance at Beacon I would wear a dress. I ended up wearing a dress and she laughed at me."

"See? Don't you feel better now?" Rosé asked.

I sighed again. I did a little.

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-WG