Violet headed over to the warehouse district. After a brief search on her Scroll, the location was marked on a map, and her GPS guided her to the correct street. She approached slowly, keeping an eye out in every direction. This area was run down, deserted. If someone was to spot her, she would have a tough time explaining why she was there. Violet decided to scale the fire escape ladder on the building adjacent to her target. She brushed her hands together, knocking off the rust that had gathered there from her climb, and move to the edge of the rooftop, thankful for the ledge that protected her from view.

The warehouse she was looking for sat in disrepair. The paint was cracked and flaking, tall grass grew up around its edges, it looked abandoned, if not for the man standing at the front door, smoking a cigarette. Violet took a close look at him. He stood, acting nonchalant while he leaned against a wall, just to the right of the door. His eyes never stopped moving though. Down one way, then the next, back and forth as he kept his look out. Violet left him for now, moving along the edge of her building to see as much as she could of the other. There was a side door, in the alleyway between hers and theirs, but with no visible guard, Violet could only assume it was locked tighter than the one at the front.

That door suddenly opened, though, and Violet ducked down lower, exposing the barest minimum of herself to keep an eye on what was happening. A man stepped out, wearing an obvious White Fang mask before he was pulled back inside. Another pair of gloved hands was visible, removing the mask from him forcibly and pushing him back outside. 'Not very bright, then.' The man walked through the alleyway to the front of the building and traded places with the man that had been smoking. He ground his cigarette into the grass with a boot and opened the door he had been guarding, stepping inside.

The new guard took up watch, but he was much less observant than the previous had been. He let his eyes wander lazily, catching on to things or stopping altogether, in apparent thought about something unrelated to the task at hand.

There were no windows on the building, no chance for Violet to get an eye inside without getting into the building itself. With a hint of annoyance, Violet noticed that the fire escape on the other building had been broken off, left to lay on the ground in the alleyway. 'I could just… No. No cheating.'

Violet didn't particularly like her options. She could attempt to sneak in past the guard, distract him somehow then try to open and close the door unnoticed. She could try and catch him by surprise, her punches were surprisingly strong when she needed them to be thanks to her semblance.

Violet chose the second option. The guard had just been switched, so she doubted another was going to take his place or check up on him soon. The front door was also unlocked, since neither had pulled out any keys for the first man to get back inside. That would leave her retreat open if she was discovered the moment she opened the door…

Violet set herself in motion, climbing back down the ladder of her own building to the ground level, then glanced around the corner, keeping an eye on the guard's seemingly random pattern of keeping watch and daydreaming. She waited until his eyes were off the other direction, head rested like he was thinking about something again, before she stepped out from behind the corner and began walking towards him nonchalantly. Violet was careful not to assume a gait that would look suspicious. She didn't tread lightly, didn't stare at the guard or the ground.

He heard her approaching once she was within ten feet of him, his head spinning back to face her direction, body tensing. Violet just gave him a smile and slowed down a little, not completely stopping, but trying to make herself appear as non threatening as possible while still gaining ground. "Excuse me, do you know where 1252 Anchor is? I've been looking everywhere around here. My boss wanted me to deliver something," Violet choked out a laugh, "They'll kill me if I'm late!"

The man's body lost some of its tension, but his eyes still darted from her to the street around, unsure of what to do in the situation. 'Good, stay like that. It'll keep you from doing anything before I close the gap.'

"I don't know about any Anchor Street, kid. You're in the wrong neighborhood if you're-"

Violet dashed forward the final three feet with a speed that shocked the man. He had no chance, as her weighted fist collided with his chin, knocking his head to the side as he slumped towards the ground. Violet finished the movement, her other hand already reaching out and grabbing a hold of his shirt and making him weightless before letting him down to the ground.

'Step one, gain access and secure an escape route. Step two onward... no clue.'

Violet moved to the door and pulled it open just enough to get a peek through the crack she had made. She didn't see any motion through the crack. The lights were dimmed, and there was a cargo container situated near the door in front of her. 'Alright, I'm going for it.' Violet listened for anything, and hearing nothing, pulled the door open. She closed it quietly but swiftly before moving into a crouch behind the nearby container. The first thing she noticed was the large snowflake emblazoned on the side, and Schnee Dust Company written in easy to read script next to it.

'Dust cargo containers?'

Violet took in more of her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was the walkway above her. A quick frantic glance showed no one above her though. She moved to the other side of the container, and found another, then another. They were packed into the building tightly.

"Can't you animals doing anything right?" the familiar voice of Roman Torchwick caught Violet's ear, and she paled. 'This is his hideout! The first of many, most likely."

The faunus unfortunate enough to have gained Torchwick's ire mumbled something incoherently, too low for Violet to make out compared to the yell that had been the orange haired man's. 'Do I keep going?' Violet didn't have her weapon on her, and even with some hand to hand training, she doubted she would match up against the crook. He had fought off both Blake and Sun for a time during their fight at the docks. 'Even if that hasn't happened yet. It isn't as if he gets suddenly more competent overnight.'

Violet slowly backed off, towards the door she'd came from. 'I already know where he ends up, anyway. This isn't worth it.' With a skill born of fear, she exited the building silently, and left.

'Time to go shopping, I guess.'

Roman stood over the unconscious form of the faunus that had been on guard duty. This was bad. Someone had waltzed in, completely unnoticed aside from this one damn animal, knocked him out, gathered intel on their operation, and left without making a peep. Roman shivered, 'This is very bad.'

"One of you animals go grab my Scroll off the table," he growled.

She was still taking care of other loose ends, but they could wait. He was going to need all the protection he could get.

'I need to call in Neo.'

The rest of the weekend and most of the next school week passed uneventfully. Violet bought her clothes, the gang spent more time together and with Siren, they had their classes, Violet learned very little, but helped the others with their homework, and the bond shared by all of them deepened in the process. It was the following Friday that Violet started to get excited about.

'Forever Fall, here we come.'

Violet supposed she shouldn't be excited about someone getting covered in sap and having wasps set on them, but Violet had only gotten to beat on Cardin that one time. He'd been keeping himself surprisingly scarce, as of late. 'Now that I think about it, other than that first day, I haven't noticed any more of his usual antics.'

Cardin was still there. In classes, in the halls, at lunch. He seemed to be adamantly opposed to playing his role as the bully anymore, though, which Violet found confusing. They were in the cafeteria at the moment, and Cardin was sitting with his team, all of them the only ones at that particular table despite it being large enough for more people. 'There's Velvet… right behind him.'

The bully made no move to do just that, bully. Velvet was loudly chatting with the people beside her, which should have drawn his attention to her. The soft, easy, rabbit faunus target.

"Has anyone noticed something off about Cardin. He's a lot more… reserved, than on the first day," Violet finally asked, turning to the assembled group all enjoying their meal together.

Several faces at the table smiled, sharing some joke that Violet wasn't privy to. It was Weiss that spoke first though, one of the few that wasn't smiling, "Winchester won't be a problem anymore."

Violet's eyes grew wide, "What did you do?"

"Threatened him with the harshest punishment I could imagine."

Violet gasped, drawing Weiss's eyes to her, as she slowly raised a finger and slid it across her neck, a silent question in her eyes.

Weiss's eyes widened in shock, "No, you dolt! I told him our teams would challenge him every day in Ms. Goodwitch's combat class if he didn't fix his act!"

'Okay, I thought I'd messed up time really bad for a second there.' Violet looked at each of her friends in turn, seeing various levels of pride, smugness, and dislike for Cardin. She had to hand it to Weiss. It had been more effective than Violet would have given it credit for. She supposed the addition of expressing a united front had helped, more than Violet just beating on him over and over would have done. 'Peer pressure is a strong tool. Especially when the primary person speaking out against you would have been an assumed ally.'

"Good job, Weiss. I'm glad you were able to put a stop to him like that," Violet said, voice thick with appreciation. Weiss took the compliment, just nodding ascension before going back to her meal. 'She's proud of what she did, but doesn't want to show it.'

Forever Fall was sounding a lot more boring now. If all they were going to do was collect tree sap without the drama, what was the point. Violet's head slumped down on top of her hand. 'Greaaaaaaat.' "What did he do anyway that got you to step in like that?"

"Tripped Velvet then kicked her drink into her face while she was still on the ground," Weiss replied with barely hidden disgust.

…...

"...He… what…" Violet ground out between clenched teeth, eyes now boring a hole through Cardin's back. 'The little shit thinks he can get away with that!?' Velvet was sweet, innocent. She didn't deserve to be treated with such blatant disrespect!

"Hey, it's okay. Weiss took care of it," Yang said in alarm, putting a hand on Violet's own when she saw the murderous look in her eyes, "I know you're really protective of the faunus, but he stopped."

'Took care of it!? She threatened him with a slap on the wrist and then let him walk away. No punishment had been dolled out for his actions, none at all.'

Concern grew on a few of their faces as Violet's anger refused to subside, her death glare promising retribution for the things Cardin had done.

"Hey, don't do anything you'll regret," Blake said timidly, placing a hand on her other arm, "Focus on Velvet. She's fine now. She's happy. She's laughing. That's all that matters, right?"

Violet reluctantly let her gaze drift over to Velvet. She was happy. She was enjoying herself, in the company of her classmates. It took a lot of effort on her part, but Violet finally managed to quell her rage. She kept her eyes on Velvet the entire time, trying to let her smile be infectious, wanting some of that happiness to waft Violet's way and pushed out the anger she felt.

Yang and Blake kept their hands on her until she started to relax. "He's just a glorified fucking extra," Violet muttered, not caring who heard. The admission helped to soothe her, though. The tension finally left her body, she sighed, and gave a small smile to the girls next to her.

"Can I just break one of his bones?" Violet joked after a full minute had passed, a tiny bit of suppressed anger still slipping through.

"I suggest the legs," Nora piped up from down the table, "He can't run away if you start with the legs."

Violet let her expression turn thoughtful until Blake backhanded her shoulder, "None of that."

Violet smiled at her and bumped shoulders, anger leaving her completely, "Alright, alright. I won't hurt Cardin, at least as long as he doesn't act up again."

The two nodded and went back to their meals. That was fair enough to them.

'Boredom awaits.'

Blake kept the smile up on her face, even though deep down, Violet had scared her. The way she had said that… It showed a total disregard for Cardin as a person, as if his life truly didn't matter to her in the slightest. She knew a faunus that spoke like that about other people... The thought made her shiver.

She hoped Cardin didn't 'act up' again. For his sake, and for Violet's.

The bullhead that dropped them off at Forever Fall took off again without them. It was unsafe to leave it parked in a place infested with Grimm, so they were on their own. Violet watched the ship disappear through the trees, the hints of its presence being lost when it finally covered enough ground. The sound of its engines faded as well, the ominous silence a gentle reminder that they were on their own.

Violet turned a wary eye to her surroundings. She knew they shouldn't be attacked while they were here, not unless the Ursa stumbled on to one of their groups. 'Please let it be Cardinal, please let it be Cardinal.' Her senses were warning her that this place wasn't safe though. It wasn't the kind of place you wanted to relax in, or else you'd end up with a beowulf breathing down your neck.

Ms. Goodwitch confirmed her suspicions as she told them their objective, then warned them that the forest was indeed full of the creatures of Grimm. The mood shifted slightly, despite the beautiful scenery, as everyone's eyes grew a little bit more wary.

The jars were passed out, to be used in collecting sap from the trees deeper into the forest. 'What the heck does Professor Peach even need this much sap for anyway?'

Glynda finished up her speech, "We will rendezvous back her at 4 o'clock. Have fun," then walked away, perhaps to get away from the children for a few minutes.

'Right. Fun. Collecting sap. Wooh.'

Violet sighed and followed her team and Siren into the surrounding trees, travelling deeper into the forest, where the trees started to grow in scale and width. Cardin and his teammates disappeared, off to god knows where. 'Except I don't,' and that fact was starting to bother her. Violet looked at her friends. Their attention was diverted towards the front, in the direction they were headed. Violet took the opportunity and slipped away through the trees, wanting to make sure that Cardinal wasn't up to something.

She spotted them a small distance away from the rest, already tapping into some of the smaller trees. Violet hid herself behind a tree, close enough to listen in on their conversation.

"That bitch thinks she's sooo much better than me," Cardin seethed, already holding a half-filled jar of sap, "I'll teach her a lesson. One that she won't forget."

'Were they talking about me? It sounded like it, but it had been two weeks now since she'd said those things. It has to be Weiss.'

"Are you sure about this, Cardin? I don't like to admit it, but we've all had to fight them in combat class. They are stronger than us," one of them said, Russel maybe, Violet had never bothered to learn their names.

"Which is exactly why they'll be just fine fighting off a few Grimm," Cardin replied, "I looked this stuff up on my Scroll. It attracts the Grimm. That's why there's so many here, and why Professor Peach wants samples of it."

Violet's anger started anew, 'Trying to sick Grimm on us, are you? That's your master plan?' Her fury boiled over, all the suppressed feelings from earlier rushing back as she watched him turn around to the rest of his team, a smug smile on his face, holding aloft the jar he had filled.

"Let's hope something dangerous shows up. I'm hoping for a King Taijitu, at the very least."

Team Cardinal never heard the King Taijitu move up behind them.

It hadn't existed before then.

'Wish granted, extra.'

Yang noticed Violet slipping away, and slowed down, letting the group continue ahead. She watched them go, a little uncertain, but decided to just go grab Violet herself. God knows what the girl was thinking, but with Cardinal out here, and the Grimm, Yang didn't want to take any chances letting her roam free. Violet was quiet, though, and stealthier than Yang would have thought possible, given how the girl should have stood out like a sore thumb compared to the forest of red that surrounded them. The moment she had taken her eyes off her, Violet had vanished into the vegetation. Yang suppressed an urge to shout Violet's name. The Grimm could hear things. She failed to spot her, though, as she traveled deeper into the trees.

The sound of something heavy crashing against the ground, and panicked screams, got her moving. Yang dashed in their direction as she heard more heavy crashes, the snapping of trees, the yells of several people in fear and desperation. Yang blew into the clearing and froze, immobilized by the horrifyingly massive King Taijitu that was currently laying into team Cardinal. Every twist of its body snapped trees in its wake. There were already deep furrows dug into the ground where its heads had slammed into it, trying to snatch up the prey in front of it. Only two members of team Cardinal were still up that she could see, the others unconscious, or worse.

Yang blasted into action.

'Shit.'

Violet hadn't meant to make it this strong. Her anger had gotten the better of her, made her sloppy. The King Taijitu was easily twice the size of a normal Grimm of its type. It dwarfed the members of team Cardinal. They had immediately noticed the dark shadow looming over the top of them and yelled in shock, turning around to defend themselves from it. The King Taijitu had lashed out, shattering one of their auras in a single hit, sending him flying back into a tree across the clearing with a cracking sound that Violet hoped was just the tree. The others had tried to defend themselves, but the other head had struck a moment after, catching another one off guard. The head had slammed him straight down into the ground, a massive hollow left in its wake that hid his body from view. Violet had no idea what she would find when she looked.

Violet pulled Zenith off her back. 'What should I do!?' Using her powers now to undo it would just reveal herself. That road led to questions, to her having to leave or risk being exposed.

'My fault!'

Violet surged into action, right as Yang came screaming out of the trees, roaring a challenge at the giant Grimm. Its heads looked up, one to each of them, and lunged forward. Cardin and his teammate managed to dive to the side as the body of the Grimm threatened to crush them in its passing.

Yang blasted her Ember Celicas down as the Grimm's mouth opened wide, launching herself above her impending doom. Violet made herself lighter, rolling out of the way the moment before it struck, then turning back and lashing out with Zenith. Her greatsword glanced off its skin, leaving only the tiniest of scratches. 'This isn't going to work!'

Yang wasn't having much more luck than she was. Her blasts of Ember Celica across the Grimm's back were completely ineffectual. The head she had dodged turned back towards her, lashing out once again and slamming into its own body. Yang narrowly dodged being crushed instantly. Her aura wouldn't have protected her from that. Violet had to take her eyes off Yang as the head next to her whipped sideways. With nowhere to go, Violet was sent flying across the ground, a strangled cry escaping her lips as pain flashed through her entire body. Her aura had broken. One hit from the Grimm had proved to be too much.

Yang heard Violet's cry and turned her attention towards her, eyes going wide. The head that had slapped Violet across the clearing slowly coiled in her direction. Violet tried to pick herself up, but whimpered and fell back to the ground, pain shooting up her leg. It was broken, just like her aura.

With another scream of outrage, Yang shot across the clearing and landed in a roll, coming up between Violet and the King Taijitu. She stood, breathing heavily, back to Violet, standing over her protectively. Both heads slithered towards them, flattening the ground in their wake. Yang shook, but stayed where she was, as both of the heads raised up, rearing back to strike.

'MY FAULT!'

Violet's eyes burned as familiar amethyst fire scorched along the entire length of the King Taijitu, from one head to the other. Both heads thrashed, screeching in pain so loudly that it reverberated through the clearing and sent Yang to her knees, hands clutching at her ears in a desperate attempt to protect them from the roar. The fire continued to burn as it thrashed, not letting up, until the body dropped heavily to the ground one final time. The fire went out, leaving no sign in its wake. The Grimm was not burned. Violet had not destroyed its flesh. She had destroyed its very essence, just like she had so long ago to the beowulves.

Cardin burst back through the treeline, Professor Goodwitch hot on his heels as they stopped and stared at the carnage. Glynda got a hold of herself and ran to the first two students she saw, Yang and Violet. Cardin ran to his teammate that had been thrown into the tree, checking for a pulse.

Ms. Goodwitch opened her mouth and said something, but Violet realized immediately that she couldn't hear. Blood trickled down the sides of her face, out of her ears. Yang seemed to still have some hearing left, as Ms. Goodwitch tried shouting at them. Yang mumbled something as best she could. Violet got Glynda's attention, pointing off towards the deep hole in the ground, trying to say as close to "One of them's over there," as she could manage. Glynda seemed to understand her, and rushed off. She used her telekinesis to pull the boy out of the ground, laying him flat on the ground next to it.

Glynda checked for a pulse as well, and her expression calmed. 'A good sign.'

The rest of team Vibrant and Siren finally made it into the clearing, and immediately began helping where they could. Her teammates were saying things to her, but Violet could hear none of it. She had eyes only for the two members of Cardinal that had been downed.

With immense relief, she saw them getting treated, 'That means they aren't dead, at least,' and let herself fall back on the ground. Her breathing came out ragged and painful, in short sharp bursts, 'Probably some broken ribs.' Glynda had pulled out a medical kit from her supplies, and filled a syringe before sticking it into the boy's thigh. Violet recognized the colorful blue liquid. 'Aura boosters. Send one this way… After the other guy, of course.'

Glynda had shown Weiss how to duplicate the procedure at the same time, though, and sent her off to Violet with one while Glynda herself went to the other member of team Cardinal. Violet barely felt the needle that Weiss jabbed into her leg. It was lost among the rest of the pain. After a minute of the drug being administered, though, she felt her hearing start to return. Her aura was working double time, patching up her ear drums as well as the rest of her wounds. Violet's friends were still muffled, more than one had tears in their eyes.

After a time, Glynda used her semblance to pick up the three of them and floated them with her as she walked, heading back to the evac point. Yang clutched Violet's hand as she floated, uncertainty in her eyes as Glynda turned around, throwing questions her direction. Violet couldn't hear what she said... she just hoped it was anything but the truth.

Violet was lying in one of the many medical rooms at Beacon. Her hearing had returned, and her rib cage had healed, but the damage to her leg was more extensive. It had been shattered in several places, and would take a couple days to fully heal. 'Wooh… wasted weekend.'

The two members of Cardinal were in separate rooms, still alive. She had asked the nurse what the extent of their injuries were. The one that had been slammed into the tree was in similar condition to her, but it was his shoulder that had taken the brunt of the hit. The other was worse off. His entire upper body had taken the blow into the ground. Violet could only imagine the extent of the damage. He was lucky to be alive.

The door to her room opened, and Violet had to stop herself from visibly recoiling, 'Ozpin.'

The headmaster stepped into the room fully once he noticed she was awake, "Good evening, Ms. Regalia."

"Is it evening already?" Violet asked, looking towards her closed blinds. They only led out into the hallway, "Hard to tell with no real windows."

"I assure you it is," Ozpin replied with a quirk to his mouth. He shifted in his seat, drawing Violet's eyes back to his own as he spoke, "Ms. Regalia, I need a full recounting of the events that transpired yesterday. Spare no details."

Violet had already planned for this. There was no way to lie, not fully anyway. They would have the new body, another to compare to the Grimm from ten years ago. Violet needed to come clean with what Ozpin thought was the truth, and keep the rest of her secrets guarded closely as she did so.

So Violet began her tale. Arriving in Forever Fall, seeing Cardinal and his group sneaking off, thinking they were up to something. Losing track of them, then running into the clearing to find them in the middle of a fight with the King Taijitu. How it was bigger, stronger, more resilient than any she had ever seen. How two of the members of team Cardinal had gone down instantly. Trying to help distract it so that the other two could get away. Yang's appearance. Violet getting wounded. Yang jumping to her defense.

Then... how her eyes had lit up, and the Grimm along with it, burning it in a way that somehow left no marks. How the body had not disappeared, as all Grimm usually did.

"I'm sure Ms. Goodwitch could tell you more from there. The Grimm made me deaf for a while, so I really couldn't tell what was going on after that."

"And were you aware that you had performed this feat before today?"

"I… the memory came back, when I was killing the Taijitu. Like I had repressed it, maybe. I don't know. I remember it now, though. Staring down the face of that beowulf and feeling like I was going to die…" Violet let out a very real shiver as she said it. It was the two girls that had been with her that she thought of, though.

"Thank you, Ms. Regalia, for your honesty in this matter," Ozpin replied, looking into her eyes as he said it. Violet didn't break eye contact. She knew what 'tells' were, and had long since ground them out.

"Do you know what this is, Headmaster? This thing I can do?"

"I have never seen anything quite like it," Ozpin replied, "What all you can do with it remains to be seen. I hope you will keep this matter a secret, though. Ms. Xiao Long has been given the same instructions. No one else saw what happened, though they are confused, which is to be expected." Ozpin stepped up to the door and held it half open, smiling as he gave one last glance in Violet's direction, "Get well soon."

Ozpin left her with that final sentiment.