What is up, lads. Before we get into this update, a quick note that I want you guys to read so there's no confusion down the line.

Remember how this fool said stuff about anything past V7 not happening? Not being set up? So apparently we're getting a game set during the training montage in V7 and I also failed to take into account the Grimm Campaign because I simply did not have the patience for some of the uhhh, ideas presented by it. So! Rather than being Speculative Pre-canon, Smothered Mate is now straight up going to be AU Pre-canon. And I call this AU Retcon-Retcon, because at this point Smothered Mate is retconning the already established retcons that make RWBY a minefield to jump into unprepared in the year 2021.

What does this mean? It means that things set in stone as early as V1 aren't set in stone in the fic. Right now, the only thing in canon set in stone is team STRQ being a thing, because I already did the dang chapter and I know if I redid it I'd have everyone wanting Raven on their team because. Well. Look at her. This also means that, for those who are fans of RWBY-but-CFVY and were bitter the dope new Grimm revealed in the books were retconned, y'all get those Grimm back. Retcon-Retcon, see?

The only things I need from you guys is, if you've seen your character already in the fic and want to add or change something that isn't related to magic or maidens, DM me and let me know! Hell, if you think your OC has as much Chad energy as Tai to woo Summer before him, let me know and I'll note it down. Hell, if your OC wants that Chad Tai action, let me know! Because I got so many amazing characters sent in that slotted so flawlessly with the ideas I had for this fic, a lot of which started out as just TTRPG ideas that I never thought I'd get to explore more, and restricting myself to a lore that constantly updates the span of time where I set down the pin so I can set up things properly will be a disservice to those OCs you guys made. Plus a little less fun for me, not gonna lie.

TL;DR but you really should've R'd—This is no longer speculative pre-canon, it's AU pre-canon and everything in the present of RWBY's franchise is off the table to be set up. We're going hog wild and making our own RWBY and using the fun ideas they retconned by retconning the retcon.

VII.

Haven: Initiation (II)

On the dawn of the second day, Ozpin contacted him.

Leonardo hadn't been a headmaster as long as the others—he was the greenest, despite being older than General Tarasque of Atlas, despite having arguably more combat experience than Ozpin himself. So it was no surprise to even himself how nervous he was to find a message waiting for him that morning. Pembe and the other teachers had been overseeing the initiation, but Leonardo had been apprehensively waiting for Ozpin to reach out. He always seemed to know when to reach out, even for issues Leonardo didn't know about.

"Ms. Covalent," he told Pembe as he sank into his desk chair. "I trust the observation of initiation to you again."

"Of course," Pembe replied. She was young, like General Tarasque, but she was like Leonardo in comparison. Lacking in something, but doing her best to make up for it. Pembe's case just happened to be a Semblance rather than something psychological in nature. "I'll contact you if anything comes up."

She left the office. Leonardo pinched his brow and sighed.

"Ah, good morning, Leonardo," was the first thing Ozpin said upon contact. The man's greying hair had spread a bit more, and Leonardo wondered if the years were being harsher to him than anyone else. It never seemed to bother him. "Thank you for reaching out as soon as you received my message."

"Of course, Ozpin," Leonardo stammered. "What did you need to speak about? There have been no hiccups with initiation so far."

"Oh, nothing too serious. I just happened upon a name among your applicants and wanted to do a little digging. One of your would-be students is on a missing persons register here in Vale."

Leonardo could feel the sweat beading under his beard. He didn't take in a criminal, did he? Oh God, Ozpin wasn't going to make him halt initiation for just one person, right?

"I also noticed," Ozpin went on, "that same name was supposed to be at Beacon's initiation last year. An early admission recommended by Pharos. I'm rather curious about any information you may have, Leonardo."

"W—Who was it?"

Ozpin moved some papers around on the screen. "One Leonie Argentum. I believe the Argentum family in Vale was unfortunately killed in a robbery gone wrong not long ago—she was completely off the radar until you sent me the applications to look over."

"Oh!" Leonardo let out a relieved breath. "Y—Yes, Miss Argentum. I didn't think to ask where her parents were when we spoke. She spoke with me about her sister's enrolment to Sanctum—"

"What did you think of her eyes?"

Her eyes? Leonardo paused. They were an odd colour, but he never thought about it beyond that.

"They were… silver," he said eventually.

"I have a favour to ask, Leonardo."

"A… favour?"

Ozpin nodded with a short hum. "I just want you to check in on the sister you mentioned. And if her eyes are of an unusual colour like Miss Argentum's, then—and forgive me for the metaphor—I'd like you to keep a little 'pride', so to speak."

It took Leonardo a moment. While Leonie had specified that her sister's Faunus heritage was to be kept hidden, there was no doubt they were of the same type. So when Ozpin asked Leonardo, a lion Faunus, to make a little pride with these two young ladies, he coughed into his fist and nodded.

"May I ask why?" he tried.

"Well, I imagine if this is the same Argentum who went missing after a robbery-turned-murder in her home in Vale," Ozpin said simply, "it would be beneficial for your student's mental health if her only family remains by her side at Haven."

That wasn't the real reason. That tone he used—this was his little white lie for Leonardo, a warning that he would not hear the truth yet. That he had not earned that truth yet.

"Of course, Ozpin." Leonardo rose from his seat and sighed. "I'll head for Sanctum right away. What… reason should I give if she has the same eyes?"

"Have her demonstrate her capabilities. Deem her as a hopeful potential afterwards. Worst case, the girl becomes an apprentice under one of your staff."

Right. Leonardo nodded once more and, with no other requests, Ozpin hung up.

Was it rash of him to leave so suddenly? Maybe. But he felt he was justified in his decision. After all, he didn't get where he was now just politely taking any insult his way. Sometimes you had to prove people wrong with their own game!

Peony stretched his arms high above his head and let out a yawn. He'd been up half the night looking for Lapin, and the sun was sure to rise soon at the rate he was going. He hadn't heard from Rai—or run into him at all, really—and as the deadline approached, Peony wondered if Rai would actually honour the bet he made with that friend of his. What did they even have to do if they lost? Peony didn't recall hearing a condition, just a time frame.

Perhaps shame was the loser's prize. Shame and a wounded pride.

Peony supposed it would be enough for now.

The time on his scroll declared just a few hours left of the bet before he, or perhaps all three of them, lost under the conditions. With the sun still barely over the horizon and the trees blotting out most moonlight, it was easy enough to navigate in the dark to make sure he found his way to a Lapin den. Peony had run into one pair the day before—got a nice little explanation on how Lapin worked, with one of the duo coming from a farm herself prior to Haven's initiation. He had a vague idea of how to tackle the pesky Grimm, and speed was going to be the factor he'd rely on most. Peony rubbed at the white bands around his wrists, a matching pair on his ankles, and he smirked to himself. Geranienkollision's gravity dust would aid perfectly in that department.

There would be no wounded pride coming back with him when the initiation ended. Peony fixed his beret and watched his step in the darkness, avoiding overgrown roots of the dogwood trees around him, and he finally broke out into a clearing that, for the time being, had no other applicants in sight.

Peony stretched some muscles. He dusted off his skirt. He fastened his supplies tightly at his back. Showtime, he thought.

Lapin only attacked when provoked. But Lapin also were quick to flee if their burrow risked collapse. If Peony assumed right—that Lionheart didn't just let the Lapin roam beyond the hard-light dome around them, and even had it extend to the underground—then there was an easy chance that a clearing like this, where no trees flourished in a small patch of earth, would yield at least one straggler for him to chase.

Scaling a nearby tree was easy, and with the gravity dust in his weapon, not breaking the branches as he tiptoed out was easier. The branch wasn't long, but it was just far enough out that Peony could jump off of it like a springboard, and gravity—with a little extra nudge—would do the rest for him afterwards. Peony sucked in a deep breath, psyched himself up for the chase to come, and let Genarienkollision shift into its proper form. The gauntlets and ankle armour fit snugly, the soft glow of purple gravity dust radiating around him.

Peony stepped forward, jumping up into the air as he did so with the boost from his anklets. He sailed through the air, light as a feather for a brief moment, before he finally righted himself and reinforced the aura around his limbs. The gravity dust reversed, the sudden weight increase sending him plummeting to the ground quicker than someone his size should've. Peony braced himself, knees tucked up against his chest.

When he impacted onto the clearing floor, he left a small crater in his wake. The thunderous thump he made was sure to attract attention from others nearby, but more to the point it was sure to attract Lapin attention. If he was right, and there was a burrow underneath his feet, he had threatened enough damage to the Lapin's home to force them to flee.

Sure enough, a small rumbling underneath him caught his attention. Peony smiled sweetly, stepping out of the crater, and he set the gravity dust back to lighten his load once again. Despite himself, he couldn't help thinking how ironic it was that rabbit was both predator and prey tonight. The ground shifted and cracked, scratching sounds coming from the earth, and then finally the Lapin appeared. A small hole was left in their wake as half a dozen of them sprang out from the earth—all startled and immediately splitting off in every direction at the sight of Peony. Each Lapin seemed to have something wrapped around its neck, like little bows of varying colours, and Peony immediately launched off in pursuit of one of them.

It wasn't the Lapin they necessarily had to catch, he figured. Just what was wrapped around their necks.

The baby blue ribbon was easy to spot in the low light, standing out just as much as the silver ribbon of the Lapin next to it. Peony sprinted and jumped off the trees and branches around him just like the Lapin, the pair unwilling to separate just yet in their panic.

One of the Lapin veered to the right, bouncing off of a tree and almost pinballing itself around the area around Peony. Peony skidded to a halt, just barely dodging each time the Lapin impacted the trees around him in what were clearly meant to be lethal kicks to Peony's head. From what the farm girl had said, they were weak in a fight—but they could finish a fight in one blow if they were desperate and quick enough. You could end a Lapin as quickly as it could end you, she'd said.

Peony was lucky he had a lot of aura to spare, he decided. Especially when, completely blindsided, the other Lapin emerged from the bushes and collided with the small of his back from below. Peony stumbled forward, the pain of those large feet in his back yet to fade, but he recovered quick enough to dodge the pinballing Lapin as it slammed into the tree he'd been pushed towards. The tree cracked and snapped, and the Lapin threw itself at another tree just as the poor dogwood trunk collapsed onto the ground.

Okay. Maybe he should've chased one of the solo Lapin. These things were almost smart enough to work as a team against him.

One at a time, he thought. If he got rid of the one pinballing, then the one trying to attack him from the bushes would be easier to deal with.

Peony listened to the sounds of the trees creaking under the Lapin's bounces. One began to give way, and so did another, and soon he could vaguely predict which direction the Lapin would come at him from. They kept going for the head, kept trying to take him out quickly, kept trying to end the fight before he could fight back. Peony sucked in a deep, steeling breath.

How did he approach this? He could move just as fast as the Lapin if he put enough concentration into it, he thought as his eyes darted back and forth. But then how did he grab them? Those legs were nothing to scoff at, but if he could get a grip on the neck, then maybe… Peony licked his lips. They were a small target this time, too, so it wasn't as easy as it should've been with a Beowolf or Ursa. More precision was needed for it, but at least with more precision came less force required.

Something moved through the bushes—but it wasn't a Lapin this time. Peony startled as he watched the lion Faunus burst through the foliage, hammer in hand and big grin on her face. Judging from the way her ears folded back, Peony could guess she'd heard the commotion better than others and that, with her night vision, she'd found the area easily.

She skidded to a halt near Peony, brandishing the hammer with a twirl, and the first words out of her mouth were a compliment: "You can tank a hit pretty great, huh?"

Peony huffed a laugh. He didn't want to rely on help for this, but the Faunus and her partner were here now. A scarred young man emerged from the bushes as well, his own weapon in hand and on full alert despite the fact that he looked like he'd just rolled out of bed. Peony must have woken them—they had to have been camped out nearby, and they knew to follow the ruckus for a prize instead of going back to sleep.

"Split the difference?" he asked hopefully. Peony watched the duo nod in synch, both of them readying for a fight. "I'll take the one moving around. You guys go for the other one. It's hiding."

"Swap," the Faunus girl ordered. "You'll have to tank another hit from this one and I've got an eye on it already."

"I'm a big boy."

The girl faltered. She looked at Peony, eyes wide, and then recovered quickly. "Alright, big boy, gimmie your hand."

He didn't quite follow what her plan was at first. She set down the hammer and instead hurried to his side, slapping a hand on his shoulder in a firm grip. She stared out into the open, where the pinballing Lapin bounced around, and for a moment Peony wondered if it would attack her partner instead. They'd gang up on the guy for sure, he thought, and suddenly Peony wondered what the hell these two were thinking, doing this. He was no better, sure, with his solo hunting all thanks to Rai's pride—but still!

The Lapin that had been in hiding finally emerged. It threw itself at the scarred boy's back like it had Peony's, feet extended completely for full impact. Peony went to warn the boy, call out to him, but in one swift movement, the boy swivelled on his feet and swung his great sword up into the air. Peony watched as the blade snapped apart into segmented pieces, all just as sharp as the last, and his eyes grew wide when he saw the whip-sword extend its reach to the prone Lapin. It flailed about, trying to correct its course, but the blades sank into the small Grimm's body and snagged it entirely.

The boy swung the whip-sword over his head, just as the other Lapin began to charge him from behind. The one he'd caught slammed into the ground with a loud crunch, his body dropping down just in time to dodge the Lapin flying at him. As soon as he did, the grip on Peony's shoulder tightened and the girl told him, "Get ready to catch it."

Peony watched on, eyes wide, as the Lapin slowed its mid-air assault. His eyes were glued to it, to its blue ribbon around its neck, as eventually some kind of force dragged it from one direction to another. The tree behind the boy, its intended target, was no longer its destination—Peony, to the east of the tree and impossibly out of its way, was its destination now.

The Lapin flailed in its confusion, unprepared to attack, and Peony darted forward as it sailed towards him. The Lapin could only float towards him helplessly as he swiped down at it, slamming the poor Grimm to the ground beneath him, and Peony wasted no time raising his fist. When he delivered the empowered pump Genarienkollision granted him, the Lapin practically popped like a berry under a shoe.

He picked up the baby blue ribbon and let out a breath. He looked to the duo, both looking at their silver ribbon, and tilted his head to the side.

"That was…" Peony cleared his throat. "Sudden. But thank you."

The Faunus girl saluted at him. Her hammer was back in her hands, being used as a prop almost casually, and her carefree outlook seemed to strike a nerve with Peony. His eyes darted to her ears, then to her unusual eyes. A silver that matched the ribbon they'd snagged. She was odd, even for a Faunus, but here she was, confidently parading herself around like it never bothered her.

Peony was almost jealous. He quickly put a pin in the thought and shoved it aside.

He pulled out his scroll and took a picture of the ribbon. He sent it to Rai, who was no doubt waking up by now to get a last-minute hunt under his belt. No sooner had the message been sent, the scroll the Faunus girl held chirped.

"Ah, balls," she grunted, crass and loud. Peony blinked at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Just lost a stupid bet by a few seconds. This is even worse than losing by a landslide."

A bet, huh? Peony blinked slowly at her and stepped closer. "Would that bet be with… Rai? Green-haired fellow?"

The girl startled. She looked back to Peony, to the ribbon and the scroll in his hands, and then she let out a strained laugh.

"Lemme guess. You're his partner." She sounded defeated as she spoke, but her expression wasn't too disappointed. She was being a good sport about it, he thought. If he counted his own catch as Rai's, and counted it as a win for Rai over her, then he was sure she would take it in stride.

It was why he decided not to do that. Rai needed a little lesson, and if the girl and Peony had gotten a ribbon before him, then that was a lesson learned.

"He is," Peony chirped. "But as soon as I heard about the bet, I said I could catch one before him. You're welcome to send a picture of me back to him and let him know it doesn't count towards his efforts. As far as I'm concerned, we both won our bets against him."

The girl brightened. The scarred boy sheathed his great sword and sighed.

"Sorry to drag you into it," he said to Peony. "But thank you again—for letting us help."

"No biggie, no biggie." Peony skipped over to them and wrapped an arm around the Faunus girl's shoulders, holding his scroll up to take a selfie of the two of them. It was sent to Rai with a little scolding, reminding him that Peony's catch wasn't his own as well. Once it was done, he looked to the duo properly and nodded in greeting. "Peony Briar. Please, call me PB."

"PB, that's cute," the girl said. "Pops. I'm Leonie Argentum—no doubt Rai's called me Leo when he talked about the bet."

Peony nodded. Leonie gave him finger guns and winked. "Then you can call me Leo, too," she added.

The scarred boy rubbed the back of his neck. "Schwarzwald Eisenblut. Schwarz is fine."

Leonie elbowed him lightly. Schwarz frowned down at her. "He's a big softie, don't worry," she told Peony. "Total gentleman. Y'know, he set up the tent all on his own while I checked for any danger. And he set up my sleeping bag!"

"It's common courtesy," Schwarz muttered.

Peony giggled. These two were nice. A fun kind of nice. He didn't mind it.

"Well, Leo, Schwarz," Peony said, tone pleasant. "How would you like to escort me to my wayward partner and rub his loss in his face? I don't recall a penalty being decided on yet. We can brainstorm."

Leonie copied Peony's earlier movement, wrapping her arm around his shoulders with a grin. "Oh, I like this one," she said. "You'll keep my boy in line, for sure."

"I was really hoping I'd be partnered with someone else…"

"Yeah, you said that. Why exactly did you want someone else as a partner?"

"She had cat ears…"

The look Reznov gave him was blank, almost judgmental. "Sorry I'm not a cat girl, then."

"It's fine. You can't help it."

It was midday, the duo not quite making the progress they'd hoped for with their hunt. It was the second day out of seven, and Asher was lamenting more than usual thanks to his situation.

He didn't dislike Reznov at all. He didn't even care that Reznov was a Faunus, the taller boy's wolf ears flickering in annoyance. He'd just been hopeful that, with all the people with cat traits he'd seen, one of them would've been paired with him. He always liked cats, but normal cats didn't like him. Making friends with a cat Faunus would've been a big improvement, he figured, and rubbing those cute little ears was almost therapeutic.

He recalled one even having feet like a cat's. Ah, how squishy would those beans have been?

Asher looked back to Reznov. He should distract himself, he thought idly, and he tried to find something to talk about that wasn't cats. Maybe Reznov didn't like cats.

"What's with the open shirt?"

Reznov looked up from his revolver, clearly in the middle of checking the chamber. His ear flicked once, though not in annoyance this time. "What do you mean?"

"You got it open. A real tits out kind of look."

"What's wrong with tits out?"

Asher shrugged.

"I just like it this way," Reznov said quickly. "Just like I like the floral print. What's with the emo look?"

Asher furrowed his brows at Reznov. "The…?"

Reznov set aside his revolver and began to mess with his own hair. Once he realised it wasn't long enough to do what he wanted with it other than spike it up, Reznov gave up and instead mimicked hair over his eyes with his hands.

"Hm. I'm sullen. I like cat girls." Reznov spoke in a gravelly, deep voice that was clearly meant to be dramatic. "Why's a guy got his tits out?"

Asher frowned at him. He didn't sound like that. Asher sighed at Reznov and shook his head. "I just like my hair this way," he mumbled. Asher stood up and tugged at the bangs over his eye, almost self-conscious, and he moved slowly away from the trunks they'd been sitting on. "Forget I said anything."

"Already on it," Reznov called after him. He was back to checking his revolver, not even stopping Asher in his departure.

Asher sighed. He didn't dislike Reznov, really. And he was sure Reznov wasn't the type to dislike easily either. They hadn't exactly started off on the best foot, though, and Asher supposed his sulking wasn't helping. He'd just been dumb and gotten his hopes up for once, when he knew he should've kept from holding his breath, and now he was disappointed. But still, he didn't dislike Reznov. The guy seemed pretty capable.

Probably more capable than Asher was. He did look nicer than Asher, too. Asher looked down at himself once he was far enough from Reznov to not be seen. He looked at the shirt he wore, the jacket over the top. He probably couldn't pull off an open shirt like Reznov could, he thought. Guy was built like a truck, but besides that he somehow made a normally tacky shirt look right on him. A real stoner or surfer vibe to him that Asher definitely couldn't emulate.

Well, he thought quickly, there was no use lamenting on it longer than he needed to. As long as he wasn't the worst in his team, he was sure it would be fine. It wasn't like he was going to be the absolute trash of Haven—he had some redeeming qualities outside of his looks, he was certain.

He supposed he should go back to Reznov and work out what they were doing next. They still had five more days to look for a Lapin and kill it, but neither of them was really familiar with how Lapin worked. They weren't really common where Asher was from, and Reznov had outright told him that he'd grown up in a fishing village—nowhere close to where Lapin supposedly liked to make their homes. They were both a little blind here, so maybe it was best to be on the same page properly.

As he approached again, he could hear chatter from where he'd left Reznov. Asher pursed his lips, brows furrowed in confusion, and he kept walking until finally he caught sight of Reznov's white hair poking through the trees. Asher then, finally breaking through the bushes, spotted two smaller forms by Reznov just casually chatting away.

Two girls, he thought. One with brown hair, one with red. One with a hat, one without. Asher blinked at them, wondering when they'd managed to get close while he was gone, and cleared his throat as he approached. The brunette was the one to break from the conversation first, waving to him cheerily as she did so.

"You must be Asher!" she greeted him. "Sorry to intrude like this. Me and Pad only just met up today, so we decided to look around some."

Pad—that must've been the redhead. Pad grunted once, arms crossed over her chest, and leaned lazily against one of the nearby trees. Not a talker, then. He was fine with that. Asher nodded to the brunette and mimicked Pad, arms over his chest and lips pursed.

"Oh, I'm Tovah! Can't believe I forgot that part. Rez was really nice to let us know where you guys covered yesterday," she went on. "Really helps us a lot."

"He's not much of a talker," Reznov said quickly. Tovah blinked at him. Asher nodded in agreement. Maybe for now he should keep his mouth shut. He knew Reznov was patient for now, but Tovah and Pad were new territory in terms of patience.

"Really? I'm so sorry if I pressured you," Tovah said to him. Asher waved her off, trying to look nonchalant, but he was sure it was unsuccessful.

"Anyway," Reznov said loudly, bringing Tovah's attention back to him. "I'd really appreciate the help. It'd give me and Asher something to work with."

"Oh, sure. It's no problem." Tovah smiled at them. "This is tough for anyone not familiar with Lapin. I'd rather help a few people out than let them struggle to the last minute."

It seemed like a plan had been made in the short time Asher was gone. Tovah and Pad, who had happened upon the group even after getting their ribbon, had offered to lead them to a spot that likely had some Lapin hiding somewhere. From there, it was a fight with their hands held by the girls to get a ribbon of their own and relax for the rest of the initiation. Asher mulled over it silently. It wasn't a bad plan, and he didn't feel all that bad when it was also Reznov getting the help from the girls. So Asher nodded in agreement.

Tovah and Reznov took the lead, chatting up a storm about what they did before Haven. Pad and Asher hung back, silence between them, and for a moment Asher wondered if this was what a team would feel like. For the moment he wasn't sure how it felt. If it was peaceful or somewhat isolated. If he liked it or not. He wasn't the only one who was quiet and hanging back from the group, but he didn't feel exactly like he had a comrade or anything.

Asher hummed to himself flatly. This was gonna take a while to figure out.

As he thought on it, he noticed that Tovah and Reznov had picked up the pace somewhat. Asher blinked, wondered if he'd zoned out a bit too much, but Pad was still keeping up at his side. Maybe he wasn't going too slow, he thought.

It all seemed to happen at once then. As Asher thought on whether or not he was moving too slowly, the rustling to their right—the side Asher walked with Pad—caught his attention. He glanced over, instantly producing his shield along his left arm to make use of. Zekoaegis was pelted with the force of multiple bodies, the surprise of it all catching Asher off guard, and as he was knocked off of his feet and into the bushes behind him, Pad was caught in his path.

Both of them rolled on the ground with grunts, the Lapin all bouncing off of Asher's shield and making zooming paths around them among the trees. Asher rolled back onto his knees and held up his shield as another Lapin charged at him, startled but aggressive nonetheless in its blow; he glanced back down at Pad, who was sitting up with a groan, and the first thing he noticed was that her bright red hair, wild and tangled, was free of its hat. And so were the little ears that had been hiding underneath.

Cat. Asher blinked and stared. Pad looked up at him, panicked, and realised what he was staring at. She was frantically searching for her hat along the ground, completely ignoring the Lapin, and Asher panicked himself when he saw one blitz in her direction.

"Look out!" Asher sped in her direction, throwing himself over Pad's smaller body, and Asher shut his eyes tight as he held Zekoaegis over the top of them and activated his Semblance.

A large barrier formed around them, the Lapin bouncing off of the violet dome and leaving little thunk sounds in their wakes. The continued to surround them, attempting to break through the barrier, but Asher was confident one this small and this concentrated would hold out until Reznov and Tovah caught up.

Beneath him, Pad hiccupped and clawed at the ground. She was mumbling, still panicked, and while most of it was incomprehensible to Asher, he could make out one sentence above all of the others: "Don't look at me."

Asher… wasn't the most familiar when it came to Faunus struggles. He kept to himself and focused on his own issues more than others, and sometimes his burdens clouded his own judgement. But he knew enough, connecting the dots of the ears being exposed and the panic Pad exhibited, to gather that the typical level of abuse Faunus faced was most likely faced by the redhead too. And it made perfect sense to hide the ears. The hat could easily be written off as keeping that wild mane of curls under control rather than for hiding something.

Asher glanced up at the barrier, counting the Lapin bouncing off of it. Two, four, eight… About a dozen of them, all having jumped Asher and knocking him and Pad a good distance from their partners. And as he looked, he saw something glisten on the edge of Zekoaegis's border. Something red—decidedly not a colour he decorated his weapon with. Asher retracted the blades that had come out of the shield's corners, and he watched as a small brown lump dropped to the ground. The shiny red thing was easier to see now, and he blinked in amazement at the coincidence before him.

Pad's hat, the one with the padparadscha brooch pinned to one side, landed softly at his feet. There was a small hole in the back of the hat from where Zekoaegis's blade had pierced it when they were knocked over, but otherwise it was fine. Asher lowered Zekoaegis, let out a breath, and climbed off of Pad to pick up the hat.

When he put it on her head, she froze and went deathly silent. As much as he wanted to indulge his little desire for some kind of cat to befriend him, Faunus or animal, he knew when a boundary was being overstepped.

"Never saw a thing," he said. Pad sniffed. She wiped furiously at her face, back still facing Asher, and fixed the hat. Asher turned his gaze back to the barrier, where small cracks were starting to form along the surface, and he pursed his lips. He could hear Reznov calling for them, no doubt searching frantically. Asher huffed a short breath. He really was a patient guy, huh?

He cleared his throat. More Lapin bounced off of the dome. "You wanna… see what I can do with the barrier?" he asked meekly.

Pad sniffed again. She shuffled around, hands still holding the hat in place, and when she looked at him she nodded just a fraction. Asher tried his best to smile at her, not entirely used to making a reassuring expression, and he let out a short breath.

"Normally it's smooth, but if I concentrate hard enough…" After a few seconds of saying it, Asher stared up at the barrier and watched as, to Pad's surprise, eight of the dozen Lapin were suddenly impaled on spikes that shot out from the dome. Ribbons of all colours fell to the ground around them, the four surviving Lapin fleeing from the direction they'd come from, and Asher rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "It's not much."

The barrier dropped just in time for Tovah to burst through the bushes, her large weapon making contact with a fleeing Lapin and splattering it all over a nearby tree. Reznov followed suit just behind, firing rounds from his revolver and managing to clip one of the Lapin as it fled deeper into the trees.

"Oh thank God," Tovah wheezed. She ran over to Pad and Asher, a hand on both their shoulders as she looked them over. "They didn't break anything? That was so many just now! I think someone disturbed a nest and they ran our way. I'm so sorry, that was on me for not noticing!"

"We managed," Pad said quickly. She pursed her lips and pulled Tovah's hand off of her shoulder. With a wary look to Asher, Pad nodded in thanks and picked up a few ribbons. "We'll take some of these and give them out. You guys take whatever you want."

Reznov dashed past them, another gunshot ringing out, and Asher stared at his direction with wide eyes. Another Lapin, he thought? What were the odds the one Reznov clipped had come back? As if on cue, Reznov returned with a big grin on his face and, to Asher's surprise, a yellow ribbon in his hands.

"Knew I got the little shit in the legs," Reznov said. "You wanna take this one, Ash?"

Asher raised a brow. Since when were they on a nickname basis? He rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat, giving a short mumble of, "If you wanna."

Reznov seemed okay with the answer. As he approached, watching Tovah and Pad pick up the ribbons, Reznov patted Asher on the back with a very enthusiastic grin.

"Saw the barrier through the bushes," he said. "That was great work, impaling them on it. And you kept Pad safe too!"

Pad huffed, unhappy to be told she'd been protected, but didn't argue.

"Hey, Tovah!" Reznov leaned over and tied the ribbon to his ankle, making sure it was nice and tight so it wouldn't fall off. "If anyone takes the ribbons, tell 'em Asher is the one they can thank."

Asher startled. "What? No—"

"One step ahead of you," Tovah sang. "I got someone already eager for a ribbon. Really appreciate the generosity, Ash!"

The thanks and compliments, though minimal, overwhelmed him a little. Asher groaned to himself, weak and tired, and as Tovah continued to pick up the ribbons Asher simply crouched down into a squat and hid behind Zekoaegis's width.

Maybe she'd been a little bit wrong. He wasn't all dainty—but it was a majority of his disposition. In the two days they'd been paired together, some sick twist of fate following Fyth's interaction with Wisteria, he'd been quite the reliable traveller. Every so often he'd relay an anecdote from his travels, earning a small hum from Fyth, and they'd continue on their way in search of a burrow.

His little cat feet weren't cramping as easily in the forest, either, which she supposed made sense. He said he grew up on the road rather than in one specific place, only staying in Menagerie for a few years before going back to the nomadic life his parents lived. It started making more sense, the more he talked, how unfamiliar he was with the cities and even villages around them right now. She wasn't going to pity him by any means for it—that was his lifestyle, always moving around—and she made it clear to him after the first detail had been spoken aloud. Wisteria never seemed to mind.

She'd withhold judgement a little longer, Fyth decided. Just a little longer.

That being said, just following him around the whole time for two days had been boring. Kousa was big, but the fact that they hadn't found any Lapin yet was starting to get on her nerves.

"You're positive you know where we're going?" she repeated for the umpteenth time. Wisteria nodded eagerly, ducking under some branches as he walked. His swords, which looked to be some variant of rapier, hung at his sides snugly.

"I'm sure of it!" he insisted. Wisteria bounced on the spot, the paws of his little feet kicking up dirt as he did so, and waited for her to follow. Fyth let out a quick, unimpressed grunt and humoured him. "I know what to look for because it's what my dad always warned me to stay away from. Who'd have thought it'd come in handy in reverse one day, huh?"

He was at a Huntsmen Academy. Of course it would come in handy for the wrong reasons his father intended.

"You ever dealt with one of these things, though?" Fyth sighed. Wisteria scratched the back of his neck. He'd tied his hair up into a messy milkmaid braid today, too lazy to do it properly, and Fyth couldn't believe how much longer than her own it was. Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised if he was mistaken for a girl all the time.

"Funny story," he laughed, sheepish. "A Lapin was how I found out my Semblance."

"Oh?" This had to be interesting.

"I thought I saw a normal rabbit and followed it into some bushes. I think I was twelve." Wisteria was turning red in the face as he spoke, embarrassed by his mistake from the past. "When it jumped out and hit me in the stomach, it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. But I kinda…"

He made a motion with his hands to simulate an explosion. Fyth stared at him blankly.

"Words are so hard…" he mumbled. Wisteria shook his head and cleared his throat. "It's hard to describe. Sorry. I can demonstrate, I think, but I'm not too sure how."

Fyth blew some of her brown locks from her face and hummed once. She looked at Wisteria, at his swords and his dainty self, and she frowned.

"The Lapin hit you, yes?" she clarified. He nodded quickly. Fyth raised both arms, readying Fetch and Call without further delay once she got the confirmation. "Then I can just strike you like it did."

Wisteria looked to her in horror. He held his hands up, panicked, but didn't run off like she expected him to. Compared to her human legs, his cat legs were better suited for running in dirt and forestry.

"J—Just," he stammered, "d—don't hit me too hard. P—Please?"

Fyth blinked at him. She was sort of expecting him to beg not to be hit, but instead he was taking it in stride and just asking for a little mercy when she did it. Fyth pursed her lips and lowered her arms. Two days, and he was full of surprises compared to when they were in the heart of Mistral. She wondered if this was the limit of his bravery, or if it went deeper despite his cowardly appearance.

She licked her lips and walked over to him. "I won't hit you with my weapon," she told him. Wisteria seemed to relax somewhat, relieved. Fyth looked up at him as she continued, "However, I will punch you. So take that as a warning."

Wisteria nodded quickly. "Punch. I can do a punch. Dad had a mean right hook when he trained me. I can take a punch," he rambled. Fyth nodded along, humouring him, before getting into a stance so he could prepare himself. Wisteria cringed and held his breath, and then he nodded after a few seconds of bracing himself.

Fyth socked him right in the jaw, her right fist hitting the left side of his chin. She heard a dull thud, like something bursting underneath a layer of cotton or fluff, and then she was assaulted mercilessly with something small and crowded in her face. Fyth jumped back, sputtering as some of it landed in her mouth and clung to her face, and she finally got a good look at Wisteria and the little things that had burst out from him with her punch. A cluster of wisteria petals, fitting for his name, cascaded to the ground in a large pile where Fyth had been standing. If she hadn't moved, she'd be blinded by them for a good minute or so—a perfect distraction for Wisteria to run off, and she could see why the Lapin hadn't done much more to him if that was the response his Semblance had.

She looked up from the pile, back at Wisteria—and paused when she saw his face. His head had jerked to one side from the hit, but what Fyth couldn't understand was how half of his jaw and face was missing from the blow. Wisteria cringed the whole time, until finally the petals on the ground rose up as though carried by a gust of wind and, ever so slowly, reformed his face to its original, whole self.

Fyth looked him up and down for a moment. "Huh," was all she said.

"Yeah," he sighed once his mouth was back in place. "When the Lapin got me, it kinda… popped me in half. But it ran off afterwards since I wasn't a threat by then. Took me… half an hour to figure out how to connect everything together again."

"That's… quite the defence you got there." Fyth crossed her arms over her chest and sucked in a deep breath. "As long as the legs aren't hit, I take it you can make a quick escape after blinding someone?"

He nodded quickly. He seemed excited that she'd noticed.

They were silent for a moment, one in thought and the other just plain awkward, but the awkward one broke the silence after a time. Wisteria fidgeted, cleared his throat, and he pulled Fyth from her thoughts of how it made sense for him to survive this long with a Semblance like that.

"S—So, um. What's yours?" he asked sheepishly. Fyth tilted her head at him.

"Mine's easy to explain. My senses are heightened and I can track things like it's child's play." Fyth shrugged. "It's not flashy like yours, but I only ever did hunting before coming here anyway. It's as perfect for me as yours is for you."

Wisteria nodded along eagerly. He was giddy, almost, like he'd broken the ice between the two of them, but in Fyth's eyes, there was still a way to go. She wasn't one to open up easily, and it wasn't exactly rocket science to figure out that someone like her, who didn't mince her words and beat around the bush, was disliked by more sensitive people. Wisteria, try as he may to deny it, fell flat into that category.

"Maybe we could, um, try sniff out some Lapin with it!" he suggested. Fyth raised a brow, surprised he'd assumed she could smell Grimm scents. Most people just figured it was a dollar-store version of Semblances that could see a lack of aura, and figured a Grimm would have no scent whatsoever. Then again, she thought, he could be one of those Faunus with a sensitive nose himself. "We can try grab a ribbon and see if we can help anyone else, right?"

"This is a test," Fyth told him, tone flat. "I'm not letting someone else cheat off of me."

Wisteria shrank back. He nodded, a small mumble of, "Right… You're right," coming from him.

Fyth pursed her lips. Yeah. He fell into the sensitive category alright.

"I'll still try sniff one out," she added. "At this rate, it'd be easier than trying to find a burrow. Plenty of people have spooked them out by now."

His expression brightened again. Wisteria nodded eagerly once more.

It was hard to fully understand why he was so excited to see her use her Semblance or even why he was seemingly having fun with her. But she brushed it aside and closed her eyes. There was no point dwelling on it right now, not when they were on a time limit, and she really did want to avoid having to let others coast off of their hard work. It was just a Lapin—a weak thing, if tenacious with its fleeing, and relatively easy to hunt compared to other larger Grimm. It was everyone else's fault if they struggled to do the bare minimum in that area. Not just anyone could become a Huntsman; it was why they held tests for the license!

She digressed. Unless he pushed for it, which he probably wouldn't, she saw no need to argue with him over helping the others.

Her Semblance kicked into play, the sounds of the forest and the people within filling her ears. Each rustle of branches, each gust of wind, it was all as clear as crystal in her mind as she patiently listened. She could hear thumping—Lapin on the move, possibly—and the groan of trees in the distance. Fyth pursed her lips and opened her eyes. The light was harsh on her for a moment, but quickly her eyes adjusted and her enhanced vision suffered no lingering effects. Her tongue darted out to taste at her lips—distantly, a sort of bitter taste from the pollen. One deep breath in through her nose. That same bitter smell, like chemicals used in cleaning but far less sickening in scent, but also a sweet fragrance. Musky where the dogwood was stifling, the scent of wisteria drew her gaze to the namesake by her side.

Wisteria tilted his head to the side, intrigued, and Fyth leaned towards him a little. Yeah, it definitely came from him. She supposed that was an effect his Semblance had on his aura—gave him his own personal perfume in a way. She didn't mind it, she thought, and she took in another deeper whiff to familiarise his scent before moving on. When the bouquet of wisteria hit her nose, she paused. She looked at Wisteria, then behind him.

Iron? Rusted iron stained with… ichor? Fyth blinked and shoved past Wisteria. Did someone follow them here? Without either of them noticing? She should've heard them, smelled them coming—

The scent was behind her when she passed Wisteria. Fyth paused again. She turned her head to look over her shoulder, and when she took in a deep breath again, she could smell the iron from behind. Right where Wisteria stood.

She licked her lips and said, "Jewellery."

Wisteria blinked. "Me?" When she nodded, he shook his head. "No, no, too loud. And what if I wore earrings and someone tore them out? Not worth it."

Not jewellery? Fyth walked right up to him, face invading his own personal space, and she took in another deep breath. If not jewellery… No, not his swords. They were immaculate, nowhere near rusted. From her closer vantage point, Fyth could find the area the scent was localised to. While it clung to Wisteria, it was only a small section of him that radiated the smell of iron—everywhere else was his own personal wisteria scent, but when her nose was aimed at his neck she could smell something very not Wisteria.

Wisteria seemed to notice she was focusing on one area in particular. He shrank in on himself, his expression surprisingly unreadable despite the thin layer of fear he showed above all else. Wisteria's hand went up to his neck, rubbed at the skin under the high collar of his shirt, and he turned his head away from her in what seemed to be shame.

"Are you injured?" she asked him. How else would the smell be explained? But when could he have been injured? He'd been with her the whole time, and any injuries prior to the initiation would've healed with aura by now.

"N—No," Wisteria stammered. "It—I'm not hurt."

"Then why do I smell something around your neck?"

He seemed to do a full body shudder when she said it. Wisteria's other hand reached up, and both of them clamped tightly around the shape of his throat as though hiding something more than he already was. Wisteria brushed past Fyth, uncharacteristically stubborn in his denial, and he let out a nervous, distracted laugh.

"I—I'm sure you can smell me all you want later," he said quickly, "b—but we're hunting Lapin now, r—right? Let's focus on that for now!"

Fyth stared at him. She stared at stared, wondering if he would crack under the pressure of silence like he normally did. But instead, Wisteria just stared at the ground and kept his hands over his neck, patiently waiting for Fyth to answer him. This wasn't the boy who wanted to quell an awkward silence, but rather someone who wanted a topic dropped.

Fine. She wasn't going to pry. If there was something wrong with him that he was self-conscious about, she wasn't about to make a big fuss over it. If he wanted to deal with it on his own, then he dealt with it on his own.

Without another word, Fyth resumed her search for the scent of Grimm in Kousa Forest.