Interlude 2 Chapter 5: The Way Things Are

AN: Well, considering that a surge of inspiration has struck me, let's keep writing immediately after I put up the previous chapter. Let's see how much I can get done tonight. Or what kind of crappy couple weeks I have this time.

At any rate, on with the story… where it turns out that Kassidy hasn't been the sole focus of a chapter since the end of Volume 2. Let's fix that, why don't we? We've got Bob, Glynda, Yang, Blake… a whole slew of people coming out of the woodwork this time. How does Kassidy handle it all?

(Perspective: Kassidy)

Her lungs burned as she came skidding to a stop across the rough, cobblestone floor. Her arms burned. Her legs burned. Everything burned. But she had to fight past it; past the pain, past the fatigue, and past the burning. She couldn't afford to lose, not now. She managed to pick her head up off the floor, and as she blinked away the pain, her gaze fell upon where her sword had clattered to a stop a mere few inches from her hand. She reached her arm out for her weapon, the tool that just might yet save her…

Only to have a boot viciously stomp onto her hand, halting its progress and making fresh pain shoot through her limb. Kassidy tried to focus on freeing her hand, only to cry out in pain as her assailant grabbed her by her hair and drug her head up until her neck arched painfully. She could sense something move close to one of her new ears, and her assailant spoke softly, close enough to have their breath disturb the hair – no, the fur – covering it. "Looks like I win. Again."

There was no use fighting, at this point. "Looks like you win again," Kassidy agreed.

Suddenly, the grasp on her hair was released, allowing her to lower her head, and the boot was removed from her limb as well. She was given a moment to catch her breath and rub the soreness from the back of her neck, before a hand appeared in her vision. Kassidy took it, and was hauled to her feet just in time for the scene they were in to be replaced by a sterile, white tile room. The simulator's default setting, she recalled, which left no distraction from the other occupant of the room.

"A minute and forty three seconds this time," the perfect copy of herself said. "A drastic improvement over our spars yesterday."

"Still not good enough if I want to keep up with my team," Kassidy denied. She stretched a little bit, then turned a curious eye on her partner. "Any particular reason you keep copying my body, Bob?"

Her clone – now identified as Bob's avatar whilst inside the simulator – shrugged. "It's the body I have the most data points for." Bob motioned with a hand, and suddenly a variety of weapons began floating in midair a short distance away. Kassidy's computer put his copy of Baton from where he took it, leaving it floating in midair while he visibly considered copies of Crescent Rose, Myrtenaster, Crocera Mors, Ember Celica, and other weapons that her classmates used. "And your improvement is not insignificant. You asked for an opponent that would help you increase your skills the most rapidly, so I combined Project Colossus' biological augmentations with the Aura control and capacity of your average fourth-year Beacon student. You're not supposed to be able to beat me."

"There's been plenty of things I wasn't supposed to be able to beat," Kassidy pointed out. She was about to continue with her point, but had to keep her eyes from flying out of their sockets as Bob decided on Magnhild and gave the hammer/grenade launcher hybrid a few test swings. "Alright, really?! I thought you were supposed to help me train, not try and give me a concussion!"

"The two aren't mutually exclusive," a third voice called out. A red light flashed on one of the walls, and a door that had been hidden by the simulator opened to reveal none other than her combat instructor. Glynda's heels tapped on the floor as she approached the center of the room, regarding both Kassidy and Bob with an expression the former couldn't quite put a name to. "All the same, I do believe her training would progress quicker if she were to focus on evading a weapon with more speed and finesse than a warhammer, no? Perhaps I should have a spar with her, if you don't mind?"

Bob's avatar glanced at Kassidy, who nodded. Bob nodded in return, then dismissed the copy to dissolve into blue particles of light. In the next instant, Bob spoke through the speakers – his own voice, rather than a synthetic replication of Kassidy's. "How would you like me to generate the field of battle, and which inclement conditions would you prefer?"

"I do believe we should be fine as we are, Bob, thank you," Glynda reassured. She drew a sword that Kassidy hadn't noticed before now, then let it rest at her side as she turned her attention back to her student. "I've had the fortunate timing of watching a couple of your spars. Your physical conditioning is coming along wonderfully."

"Still not what it used to be," Kassidy groused, twirling Baton before bringing it back into a guard.

Before Glynda could respond, Bob felt the need to interrupt over the simulator's speakers. "Friendly reminder that your endurance will almost certainly never be what it used to be. Colossus breaking biology, and all that."

"Indeed," Glynda commented, seemingly bemused. "Still, I'm convinced that some of it must remain, for such an improvement in a mere two weeks… never mind, I'm merely rambling." She shook her head, before continuing, "Let's begin with a supplemental lesson. Keep your movements nice and smooth." Kassidy quirked an eyebrow, but understanding dawned when Glynda swung her sword at her in a downright lazy manner. Kassidy blocked it, then replied with a similar economy of movement. The two began their dance of blades, each moving slowly, sedately, simply letting the movements set the undertone for the training. All the better, for the fact that this was a wholly different lesson than what she'd attended prior.

"Our Auras are not something mystical, something wholly outside our ability to understand," Glynda lectured, keeping the pace just high enough to keep her engaged. "It's our souls made manifest. It's a part of us. It grows as we grow; like a muscle, it strengthens the more we use it. Over time, it even changes as we change."

Kassidy frowned as she took in the words. She still didn't believe for a second this whole 'soul' nonsense… even if a brief review of human physiology revealed absolutely nothing that could create or project the metaphysical forcefield that constituted Aura. Maybe millennia of exposure to Dust has altered their genetic sequences, somehow? Except that wouldn't explain how she can use Aura now.

"Don't let your mind wander," Glynda warned, suddenly bringing her sword in a sharp attack that would've scored a scar against her armor, had Kassidy not similarly sped up to compensate. They returned to their sedate pace, then Glynda continued, "You can feel it, can't you? The energy pulsing in your very center, occasionally spreading out, forming over your skin, shielding you."

She could… and apart from the fact that she could make it go to her feet to let her give a giant middle finger to the concept of kinetic friction, she couldn't do a damn thing with it. Even its protection of her was something she had no control over, instead a subconscious reaction on its part. Weiss seemed to take great pleasure in informing her that the reaction was inefficient, and that she needed to manually control it for a while before it would defend her better. But no matter what Kassidy tried, no matter how much she played or experimented with it in her spare time, it seemed to go out of its way to frustrate her.

When she brought these points up to Glynda, however, the teacher merely smiled softly. "Don't fret, Miss Smith. It takes many prospective Hunters about a month before they truly begin grasping Aura control. Your first forays into powered movement have been particularly impressive, in that regard." Suddenly, Glynda twirled backward, disengaging their spar entirely. "Focus on your Aura; focus on that energy. Remember how you described to me using your gliding technique. Do that – but instead, keep it in your legs, rather than allowing it to flow out of you."

Kassidy thought of groaning, and complaining about how this would never work, but she held her tongue and tried to do it anyway. Conceptually, it was a simple trick she'd tried on more than one occasion herself. Weiss tried to get her to do it. Yang tried to get her to do it. Bob tried to get her to do it. This wasn't even Glynda's first try at it. But no, just like the several dozen times prior, no matter how much she 'willed' it, her Aura kept slipping from her control, simply evaporating into thin air.

"Keep calm, Miss Smith," Glynda chided. "Not everything will be done on the first try." When Kassidy gave up for a moment to recollect herself, the instructor asked, "Tell me, how did you figure out how to glide with your Aura?"

"I…" Kassidy began, only to frown as she thought about it. "I'm not really sure. I don't think I even figured it out, per se. I just… I told you about the complete weirdness that was my dreamscape fight with myself, right?" When Glynda nodded, Kassidy continued, "I don't know. I was fighting a version of me that was way, way out of my league. Sure, I had Aura, but it wasn't really as big a game changer as I was hoping. Colossus was faster and far stronger than me. I needed something to close the gap. Some way to keep from getting hit."

"And you suddenly got the ability to alter your friction with your Aura?" Glynda inquired, one skeptical eyebrow raised. Kassidy nodded, then shook her head, then shrugged. Glynda opened her mouth, appeared to reconsider, and closed her mouth. Kassidy had to focus on her hearing to pick it up, but she could faintly hear her mutter, "It might actually have potential." Having seemed to have come to a conclusion, she nodded before drawing her wand. "You've proven more than once to be a rather instinctive learner. Perhaps we should test that further?"

Whatever questions Kassidy had died whenever Glynda waved her wand, summoning a gigantic wall of shimmering purple energy six feet high spanning the length of the room – and barreling straight for her. Nowhere to run or dodge, and barely any time to think. She'd need to jump. Except she'd never been able to jump six feet from a standstill; hell, she'd be lucky if she could break four feet. That didn't change the fact that she needed to jump if she didn't want to go splat against the wall. So, she tensed her legs, closed her eyes and took a quick breath, tried to will her body to do the impossible, and jumped.

And promptly cracked her head on the simulator's fifteen-foot high ceiling. She didn't get much of a chance to voice her displeasure, however, as she began her rapid descent that resulted in her landing on the floor face-first. In her dazed and rather sore state, it took her several moments to realize that she at least managed to keep from being splattered against the wall behind her by a giant purple telekinetic wave.

"Your landing strategy needs improvement," Glynda remarked dryly. "As does your reaction time."

"Oh, the joys of being an instinctual learner," Kassidy snarked, climbing to her hands and knees.

"Speaking of learning," Glynda began, tone shifting in a way that Kassidy was pretty sure she didn't like. When she looked up after getting back on her feet, it was to find her combat instructor glaring at her. "I've had quite the illuminating conversation with Miss Rose recently. I'm told that you were the one that instructed her to fight in such a manner."

Kassidy sucked in a quick breath and instinctively took a half-step back. Yeah, this was probably pretty bad. Still, she had to try something, if only because death by Goodwitch wasn't a fate she was keen on. "And, on Saturday, you got to see why I didn't want to teach her that kind of stuff."

Her statement didn't seem to get the results she wanted when Glynda flatly remarked, "Yet you taught her regardless."

"Well, she did kind of make it an order, so…" Kassidy took another step back when Glynda slapped her wand into her palm. Sighing, she reasoned, "Look, I'm just as upset as you are that she tried to pull that in our fight. I wish I didn't have to teach her – or any of them – that stuff."

"Have to?" Glynda prompted dangerously.

Kassidy couldn't really find it in herself to do much of anything other than sit down on the simulator's floor. "Danger doesn't go away just because we ignore it. No matter how much we want it to…" When she looked up, at least it was to find that Glynda's features had softened somewhat. "Ruby got disarmed on the train; she's beyond lucky to still be alive."

"I read the report," Glynda stated.

"Then you know that what I taught Ruby will more than likely save her life if there's a repeat incident."

Her instructor fired back, "Not if she doesn't keep a level head."

"I know," Kassidy muttered. Raising her voice, she continued, "Thanks, by the way." When Glynda merely replied with a confused expression, she explained, "For helping her with what I can't."

"No offense meant," Glynda began, "But I would have thought you would be able to help her through this more than I could. You solved it yourself, after all."

"No offense taken," Kassidy replied, smiling weakly. "But I didn't solve anything."

"How do you mean?"

"It's almost impressive, just how much you can ignore when you get drunk enough." When she heard Glynda suck in a sharp breath, Kassidy added on, "Somehow, I get the feeling you don't want me to show her my methods for coping."

"That would be a wise assumption," Glynda said softly. "Miss Rose will have more sessions with me. Not detentions," she added hastily when Kassidy glanced quickly up. "Proper therapy to help her through this." Kassidy muttered her thanks, but Glynda surprised her by asking, "How about you?"

Confused, Kassidy replied, "How about me?"

"From what I understand, your experience was even more traumatic than Miss Rose's. How are you doing?" When Kassidy didn't answer immediately, Glynda continued, "If you need it, I'm here to help. We all are."

Chuckling, Kassidy answered, "Oh, I need way more help than you can give me." After eliciting a smile from Glynda, she continued, "It means a lot to me. Thanks. It's… I don't know. It's stupid."

"Miss Smith, I have known you for eight months, now. Very little involving you is stupid."

Kassidy blinked at Glynda. Was that a joke? Did Glynda just attempt to say something humorous? Still, she had a point to address. Shaking her head, she explained, "I'm not even sure. It's just… it feels like I've spent my whole life fighting. Sure, I built a pretty neat computer, too –"

"Only 'pretty neat'?" Bob inquired from the ceiling, drawing amused smiles from both the simulator's occupants.

Kassidy's amusement ended quickly, however, and she continued, "But for the past seven years, it seems like every waking moment has revolved around either killing some big group of bad guys, or trying not to get killed by them. It's always been so hopeless, something I could never beat but I could never afford to stop trying to beat. But now… well, I don't have to do that anymore. White Fang's been sent packing with their tails between their legs. Kingdoms are at peace – err, mostly. But I don't need to worry about some big conspiracy trying to kill me and everything I've cared about now.

"Like I said, it's stupid. For most of my life, I've been fighting a war, but now that war's over. Guess… guess I'm just not sure what to do with myself. I mean, sure, the tournament's here in a couple weeks, but then what? I've always believed our purpose in life is whatever we want it to be, but I'm not sure that I want anything."

Some shuffling next to her made Kassidy's ears twitch, and she lifted her head from where it sunk to see Glynda sitting next to her. "I won't try to pretend that I understand what you've been through, Mi… no, Kassidy. We've been fighting for our survival for millennia, but what you went through is something nobody should have to." Placing a hand on Kassidy's shoulder and giving a soft smile, Glynda continued, "You still have three years of education here at Beacon. That's a lot of time for someone as young as you are. I'm sure you'll figure out something. You always do, after all. And we're here for you if you need help – all of us. The faculty are always willing to do anything for our pupils, and you have made some good friends here."

"Speaking of friends," Bob piped up from the ceiling's speakers, "now would be a good time to remind Kassidy that she should probably get ready for her date with Yang tonight."

"That's right!" Kassidy exclaimed, shooting to her feet. She helped her instructor up also, then turned sheepish under Glynda's inquisitive gaze. "Yang's taking me out somewhere nice tonight. Wouldn't say where, wants it to be a surprise. But we're taking tonight to celebrate making it to the tournament – not to mention not horribly dying," she added on.

Her look turning bemused, Glynda started, "Well, I suppose if you have your assignments finished…"

"Ugh," Kassidy groaned. "Yes, Weiss, I caught up on my homework."

Glynda couldn't decide whether or not to be annoyed with that remark, but apparently decided against it as her face softened. "Then I suppose I have little to say other than I hope you enjoy your night."

"Okay, that's a good point," Kassidy conceded. "But I think we can both agree that this was the strangest thing that Colossus gave me. Hell, I'm pretty sure motion sickness isn't even hereditary! This makes no sense whatsoever!"

Yang giggled to her right, seemingly not bothered by the chill the breeze gave the evening as they strolled along towards their destination. Kassidy nearly stumbled but was stabilized by her girlfriend, shifting her curiosity from the fact that her motion sickness had disappeared to wondering why she was talked into wearing high heels again.

Seeming to read her mind, Yang suddenly said, "You look great, K. Don't sweat it. I'm here if you need the help walking."

"Laugh it up, blondie," Kassidy growled. They turned the corner, and Kassidy was treated to a rather fancy establishment with a name that seemed rooted in Italian. "Is that it?" she asked.

"Yup," Yang said, beaming.

"That looks," Kassidy began, trying to find the right words. She settled on, "expensive. I know you said dress up, but I wasn't expecting…"

"Hey," Yang said, getting her attention. "I had a bit saved up, and I wanted to do something nice for us. Don't worry about it."

Kassidy smiled at her, but held off from any further comments as they had made it to the entrance. Still, the way that she'd been getting glares on the way up, compared with the way the hostess eyed her, gave Kassidy a bad feeling. Yang either hadn't noticed or didn't care, as she said, "Yang Xiao Long, party of two."

"Miss Xiao Long… yes, I have you right here. Fortunately, we seem to have a table open for you now." The hostess grabbed one menu, took another glance at Kassidy, and then turned back to Yang. "I'm sorry, miss, but we don't allow pets in this establishment. It'll have to wait outside."

Suspicion gave way to confusion. That was an odd thing to say. "Then it's a good thing we didn't bring any," Kassidy said. Turning an amused look on Yang, she added, "Unless you brought Zwei with us when I wasn't looking."

"This is an establishment of considerable repute and status," the hostess said. "We have a strict policy of not allowing animals to degrade the atmosphere."

Kassidy was about to ask what was going on when Yang's eyes burst red and she ground out, "My girlfriend is not. An. Animal."

Kassidy's second pair of ears became painfully obvious to her as understanding dawned, as did the hushed whispers surrounding the two of them. "You're actually dating this creature?" the hostess asked. "I'm so sorry."

Okay, now this was getting out of hand. Kassidy needed to break things up before Yang's – or, more likely, her own – temper got the better of them. Tugging on her girlfriend's arm, she proclaimed a bit more loudly than she needed to, "How about we go, dear? I'm sure there's a less bigoted and backwards establishment that would love to take our business."

Yang's red eyes caught hers, but blinked back to lilac. She nodded, then said, "You're right, K. Let's go."

It was a good couple blocks away before either of them was able to regain their composure. Still, Kassidy couldn't help but feel bad about ruining their night before it even started. Her slowing down prompted Yang to do so as well, and they both simultaneously said, "I'm so sorry about…"

Yang raised an eyebrow at her, then asked, "What are you apologizing for? For being who you are? Nuh-uh. Don't even think about that. That was my fault; I should've looked into it better. Probably could have found out about that if I had…"

Kassidy shook her head. "If I'm not allowed to blame myself, then you're not allowed to blame yourself. If anything, it was that stuck-up moron's fault." They continued ambling down the sidewalk for a little bit, then Kassidy asked, "Got any other ideas for tonight?"

"Maybe now, you're starting to understand why we fight for our rights?" a new voice asked. A voice that Kassidy instantly recognized. Before Yang could do anything, Kassidy was already shoving her down while reaching for the knife she'd hidden in the back of her dress and hurling it in the voice's direction.

A slender hand delicately snatched it out of the air, and amber eyes glowed before the rest of the girl crept out of the bush she'd been hiding behind. "Your knife-throwing technique is atrocious," Blake observed. "You should stick to a gun."

"And you should stick to staying out of my goddamn life," Kassidy growled, dropping into a guard. Yang had recovered by this point, and got right next to her, similarly ready for a fight.

Blake raised her hands and said, "Relax. I'm not here for a fight." To reinforce her point, she turned the blade around and offered it pommel-first to Kassidy.

As Kassidy took her weapon back, Yang challenged, "Then what are you here for? Don't you think you've given us enough trouble?"

Blake shrugged. "Heard some rumors. Didn't believe them, so I thought I'd find out for myself. I'm… still not sure I believe them." Nodding to Kassidy, she asked, "How did that happen?"

As Yang and Kassidy both eased somewhat from their prior stances, the latter shrugged. "Got poisoned. Didn't die. Logic took a long walk off a short pier, and when I woke up I had double the number of ears I started with."

Blade stared at her, seemingly unconvinced. Eventually, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before saying, "I also came to return a favor."

"What kind of favor did we do you guys?" Yang asked, eyes narrowed.

"You killed Torchwick," Blake said.

Kassidy's brows furrowed. "Doesn't surprise me that he ate it after what I did to him, but this is the first I've heard of it."

Blake smiled. "Torchwick is one of the worst things to have happened to us. Thanks for getting rid of him. In return… I came to warn you."

"Of?" Kassidy prompted.

"It's Roman's boss," Blake sighed, smile instantly evaporating. "There's a lot going on now. I don't know what exactly, but what I do know is that some of it revolves around you."

"Why?" Yang said. "Hell, why are you even telling us this?!"

Blake hesitated, before sighing. "The first question… they're targeting your team. I don't know if it's revenge, or to keep you from interfering, but they're making plans to take you four out. Like I said, I'm returning the favor you did us, so I thought it best to warn you."

"And the second?" Kassidy asked.

Blake sighed again, the breath seeming broken and forced. "What little else I do know… I didn't sign up for this. I wanted to protect the Faunus, to make sure we got our rights and that we would never be trampled on again. But this…" Blake's eyes opened, and the amber orbs almost seemed desperate. "This isn't what the White Fang's about. I don't know if I'll be able to change it, I don't know if I'll even get a say in it, but it's something I don't want any part of."

Kassidy's brows furrowed. She shared a meaningful glance with Yang, and asked, "So, what? You want out? I've got some people that'd like to talk with you."

"And what?" Blake challenged, heat finding its way into her voice. "Put me in a cage and throw the key away?"

Kassidy shook her head. "I've been closer to your situation than you might think. I said talk, not interrogate."

Blake blinked at her words. She seemed to consider, but ultimately shook her head. "I can still do the most good while inside the White Fang. And just because I might not agree with our current direction, doesn't mean you guys are any better for us in the long run."

"Except we are," Yang argued. "If you'd just –"

"No," Blake cut off. "Just… be careful, you two." She turned around and made to leave the conversation, leaving the two blondes left sharing glances and scratching their heads. However, she stopped, and said over her shoulder, "By the way, I'd have to recommend the Hunt of the Sea. Might not be as fancy as the place you two tried to go to earlier, but the food's good and it's run by Faunus. Tell the guy at the front you're friends with me, he'll get you a seat." She took the opportunity the stunned silence provided to leave, but not before closing with, "Have a good evening."

Kassidy and Yang spent the next ten seconds staring at the bush she'd ducked behind before vanishing. Eventually, Yang managed to get out, "Well, that was a thing."

The comment shook Kassidy out of her own stupor. Sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose, she commented, "Alright, this is the last date you're planning."

"What?! You can't blame that on me!"

"I can, I will, and I have," Kassidy replied, smirking. Her smirk disappeared as she thought about what just happened, however. "I'm not the only one that's thinking that Ozpin needs to know about this. Ruby and Weiss, too."

"No, you're not," Yang agreed. "Damnit, just when I thought things were over."

"Bob, get this recording to them," Kassidy said, trusting the computer to be keeping a watch over her iris cam. Suddenly having an idea, she added on, "Qrow, too, if you have his number."

"You think Uncle Qrow's gonna help with this?" Yang asked.

Kassidy shrugged. "Dunno. But something tells me that he will if he can." After confirming that the recording of the incident had gotten to the people that it needed to, Kassidy said, "So… I'm kinda still hungry. And seafood sounds good right about now."

"Don't think it's a trap?"

"If it is," Kassidy said, "we can handle it. We're kinda badasses like that."

"Yeah, we are," Yang laughed. They'd only gotten another block when she said, "Okay, I gotta know: how'd you hide your knife in that dress?"

Kassidy groaned. "You're still on about that?"

"There's nowhere to hide it!" Yang exclaimed. Using it as an excuse to run her hand all over Kassidy's back (a state of affairs Kassidy couldn't quite find it in herself to complain about), she said, "I can't even feel it there! How?!"

AN 2: Okay, I must confess: this has been sitting on my computer, about 80% completed, for the past two and a half weeks. I can't really offer any excuses at this point other than 'this has been by far the worst semester I've ever had'. Thank god this is my last semester, because I don't think I can handle another one after this.

Also, hnng ohmahgawd this season of RWBY is fantastic. Y'know, at least all the parts called "not Menagerie" except this latest one actually did not half bad with the place, all told. Doesn't mean I'm not ditching it whenever RWKY gets to that part in the timeline, but what can ya do?

Coming up next: I… honestly don't know. Next chapter honestly might be the last before I decide 'to hell with it' and put in a big timeskip leading up to Volume 3, because I can't for the life of me figure out more content to put between here and the Vytal Festival.

Right after these Reviewer Responses.

EWR115: Yeah, Ruby didn't have the greatest of times last chapter, did she? Hopefully, I can figure out something for her to do.

serioushugsies: Kass was kinda busy trying not to get bisected by a double-bladed axe as big as she was. Thanks for the encouragement, I'll try to keep up the quality with these.

AgentDraakis: Pfft, we already knew you were a bad person. Don't worry, you're in good company over here. I tried to keep things reasonable, but given that I have no experience with it myself… well, everyone else seems to think I did a reasonably OK job so I'll be happy with that. Yeah, I'm trying to keep Sun with what we see in V2/V3, and not the possibly crazy stalker we see in V4 onwards (seriously, man, you ditched your team to follow this woman, all while wearing a brown cloak and only watching her when she doesn't know you're there? That's creeper territory, dude).

DIYEyal: Yeah, Papa Schnee is a bit of a potential worry. Unfortunately, he was also Kassidy's only hope to get Bob turned back on.

Slenderbrine: Cobalt, it is. Glad you're liking how Bob's coming along. Unfortunately, he probably won't get a (physical) body anytime soon. Or probably fortunately. If he feels the need to take matters into his own hands… that can't be good.

ThornedRose367: Welcome to the wild ride that is RWKY! So glad you've been enjoying it so far! And I promise, I'm not avoiding your PM's, I've just had a lot on my plate and haven't been able to get to them enough to give a proper answer. I promise, once I free up some time I'll see what I can provide as far as answers are concerned.

FlouriteFlower: Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself, and glad to hear you enjoyed the chapter, too. Hope things keep going well for you.

Tykene: Exams have been shit, job hunting's ben shit, semester as a whole's been shit. Wasn't just October, unfortunately. Thank god this is almost over.