Project SCLT (Scarlet) Part One: Sacred Love Chapters One-Eight

by PickleJuiceSlushie

Meet Seraek, a young up-and-coming bounty hunter who returns to Beacon after a three year hiatus. Due to unknown causes, he wishes to return to gain redemption of the ones he wronged. He and his rag-tag team of huntsmen are faced with saving their last team member, Cyzra. It is up to them if they can return Cyzra to safety and make a new life at is is an AU Prequel of RWBY

1

Chapter One: Seraek : The Lost Pigeon

I knew that at some point tonight I was going to die. I knew that three things were going to play out: One, I am gonna get my head crushed into bits by a brute, two get sliced in half by some weird boomerang sword thing, or three get swiss-cheesed by a LMG. Most of the time, you could tell what's going to happen. One target usually means that they have only one real option to kill you. That option being only them; by extension, their weapon.

These guys had given me three options, all of which end in my possible demise. It's a shame if it does happen. It'll spoil all of the fun of the job and there will be one less me in the world. I do know one thing: I am going to get fucked in some way or another. It's just all a part of the bounty business; The profession is the same as some would expect. It can get pretty droll due to the repetitiveness, but it pays. The shame in me dying is not a matter of me having a large importance. It's the fact that I will die and I will never get to finish any of the stuff that I wanted to do later on today. Such important things like, drinking the last of my orange juice or going to bed at a decent hour. Yes! That's the ticket! I can try to go to bed tonight and at least feel a bit of warmth. Speaking of warmth, I felt pretty reluctant about my assignment for these guys. The MO read that these three were charged for murder and rape. Typical case of sickos that is for easy pay. 5000 lien a piece sounds good to me. I certainly did not expect this to be a large undertaking. I wish that these guys were a easier job. I could just go "bang bang clang clang" and get the work finished and be on my way home. I guess you can't always get what you want.

The description sounded simple: Two old guys, about mid fifties and a guy about my age would just be a cakewalk. I proved myself wrong however, but this isn't the first time. This kind of stuff happens all the time ; It happens to the best of us. It is a case of underestimating your targets. Most of the time when I do this crap, it always plays out the same way. I find my target, kill them or beat the shit out of em', and turn their flesh in. It should be very simple. I usually take out lower-powered opponents simply due to convenience, but these guys were actual huntsmen. I...haven't seen a real huntsman in years. That alone was grounds for me to be absolutely stupefied. It is something that I wish I could enjoy. To think that I am being faced with equals, let alone three, is enough to thrill me. I was finally feeling the joy of what it is like to take on someone who can hold their own. This wasn't just some lame sparring match or a friendly fencing match. No, this was a fucking fight. The only option I have now is to win, no matter what the cost. It was 9:37 pm and I needed to make this quick.

Tonight, I am possibly reconsidering my position that I missed out on. It is the only way that I can feel any kind of reward for what I have learned. There was something in me that was telling me to go back to school. "Go back home, it is your only salvation." I personally think that just thinking of this is grounds for me having brain damage.

Every fiber of my being just felt... limp. It felt like I couldn't force myself to do anything. It's sort of like that feeling where you just don't want to do anything and you just wanna sleep. It seems like mine was triggered more or less by fear, rather than sadness. The fear was like a type of virus: It was making its way through my body and was not stopping. The feeling has a complete stranglehold of my nerves and felt like anything that I could do was futile and pointless. A brick wall of impossibilities laid with the mortar of reality was put in front of me and there was only one real way over it. Hop right the fuck over it. There was one teeny tiny problem though….I was outnumbered and hopeless. My whole body just felt cold.. I think it might just be the anxiety of the situation or maybe the fact I'm a gigantic pussy. My adrenaline is firing off, but I'm sweating so much that it feels so damn cold. You would think that being in action would make you all hot and sticky, but the complete opposite happens. You get really cold due to the adrenaline and your nerves make you feel scared. You can be mentally scared due to fight or flight response, but physically scared by mental fear.

These guys were nothing like I have ever seen before; I usually deal with low life criminals and thugs, not actual trained huntsmen. I was originally meant to be able to take asshats like these guys down; sadly I never stayed in school. I guess my professors had a point of when you don´t do your homework because It's not exactly paying off now. None of it matters now, I know that these guys are dead to me. The first step into beating an opponent is imagining that you are taking them down. Opening your mind that the possibility could be a reality, it works wonders in success. Other factors can be your optimism, perception, awareness and effort. Effort is usually what I go for, mostly because of the convenience..

If it´s dumb shit like evading taxes or disturbing the peace, I jusr scare the piss out of them so that way they won´t do it again. Sometimes I just pity them and give them my pay afterwards. It's basically a sign of me saying, ¨Hey bro, I feel bad for you." If it's something like rape or pedophillia, that is when I get pissed. I won't really get into the semantics of morality, but I can say that I have no real sympathy for them. I was in a decent mood tonight, which thankfully, adds to my chances of winning. Confidence is not always everything, but It does indeed help. A lot of it is based on a multitude of factors like, strength, positioning and location and shit. I honestly don't remember, it was something that I learned at academy; I couldn't care less if I forgot it.

I was cornered in the old Star Spinner Dust Works factory on the outskirts of town; I'm pretty sure it was an old dust mill before the Great Clouds happened, but it looks like it hasn't been touched in a couple of decades. I noticed that once every couple weeks there would be parties here for common punks and pixies. They would all congregate here and blast music you could hear for miles. Sometimes they have pretty good booze and people, but most of the time, it's just a bunch of junkies who show up to the party. Where I was, there was intense heavy metal playing that almost synced itself to the beats of the sword swings and gunshots. I could almost count the rhythm in the steps of our stances. 1...2…,3...,4... damn it was almost perfect. I wish I knew what band it was so I could tell my friend Leon to play for me. The screeching riffs of the guitars gave me an almost euphoric feeling of pure carnage. I could feel that the bass and intensity of the music was changing my body subtly. Almost as if the music was slowly changing my blood into diesel fuel and my adrenaline into nitro boosters.

I make a fighting stance going up against the three giants. Fuck. These. Guys. I notice that the majority of their weapons are at least three feet in length and the machine gun can only hold so much ammo. A lot of "so much" ammo, but still. The length determines the amount of area that they can only cover. Their coverage is changed by their movement, so I need to find a way to keep them till. Other things in the area may also affect how I will kill em´. I look over back to where I lost my swords…...wait a minute. My swords are still stuck in the wall...hmm. I got it.

"It's over you little fuck! We expected something a bit more impressive!" The guy with the LMG exclaims. "You're just making this harder on yourself." I could feel almost every slice and cut that bored into my skin. Beforehand, I had so much shit broken over my face that I forgot where I was for a minute. The stinging was absolutely unbearable due to whatever bonding chemicals were in the glass and plastic. Blood began to trickle down my mouth due to me getting the shit kicked out of me. I stick my fingers in my mouth and feel a little shard of glass in my mouth. It was a little sharp pebble of glass that I took a moment to feel around my cheek. I could just barely feel the shard and if I would touch it, the pain seared into my skull. I grasped the glass and quickly yanked it out of my mouth. My vision became blurry and it felt like someone jabbed a knife into my mouth. "AHHH, Fuck!" I screamed. I suddenly felt something, like a weird spike of something in my back. I slam my hands into the ground and it slightly cracks. I then hock a loogie of blood and snot.

I know that deep down that I have a second wind left in me; It runs in the family I guess. Most of the time I have almost no confidence when it comes to situations like this; for some reason, but thankfully today, I feel lucky. I am lucky. In the last three years, I could have died a thousand times over. The fact that I am still breathing is a miracle and I am damn proud of it. I am the reason why I am still standing and that proves only one thing: I have become self sufficient. The only way to prove it again is to survive tonight and hopefully find something better else to do tomorrow. I look over and I see a few ripped-up couches. There is an assortment of lien bills, drugs, beer, and wait….a snub-nosed revolver….gimme.

I sprint over to the table where the revolver lies, the man with the club stands in front of it and without a second to react slams the club into my chest. I fly back and crash into one of the speakers.

"Dragna CHARGE!" screamed the clubman; charging towards me like a crazed rugby player and at the last second, dip out of his way. He drives his head into the stereo and gets electrocuted. He then quickly yanks his head out of the speaker. He is laden with bits and pieces of wire and plastic stuck in his face and one of his eyes seems to be poked out. His veins are about to burst by the looks of his face. Absolute blood-curdling rage; something that I can relate with.

"YOU" RE FUCKING DEAAD!" He screams. I can relate more, This is my chance to grab the gun. The two other men leap into the action. I kick the swordsman in the thighs as I'm running; causing him to stumble backward. Thankfully, these guys didn't have that much composure; they just mindlessly swing their weapons around and they just get lucky hits on me. Either that or I just suck, I'm not sure. The reason may be that they are intoxicated from all the drugs and booze they've had. Seems like a prime opportunity.

The sentinel is fumbling to get the new magazine into the LMG and I slide by the gun and slap the mag out of his hands. Before I bring my arm back, he grabs my arm and catapults me close to my target. I still land on the table and smash a bunch of the bottles. All of which tears through my shirt and into my skin, creating massive gashes. I could use this as a trick. I still feel pain and I want to scream, but I have a plan.

I was able to grab the gun and check the cylinder, all six bullets are live and in the chambers. I start fake screaming to get their attention. " I lie still and hear a slight buzz near me; like an electrical switch just got turned off. It was his aura….yes..it's all coming to plan. Their aura has been lowered, this is my chance. "I guess he's had enough, let's haul him off to Maelstrom and see what he thinks." Maelstrom? Red Maelstrom? Another asshat crime lord that I have to deal with. Just excellent, now I am in deep shit with a damn gangster boss. I usually don't fuck around with mafias too much. I have respect for them and I don't like to interfere with them. I don't feel like messing with them sometimes, but I've wanted to join the Seniors. I would like to run with some guys that I can be a part of.

For me it seems a bit too much because you have a constant target on your back. If you are a mafio, you are way more popular amongst the community and more likely to get shot. With my hunting, I can be solo and hunt in the shadows. Only when I get too cocky and almost get my ass killed. I quickly grab an unbroken bottle and unload the revolver. I cram all of the bullets into the bottle. I dig into my pants pockets and open a little pack of matches. I dump the matches into the bottle and slip it into my jacket sleeve, neck first.

I realize that they probably want me to surrender and I am absolutely at odds here, but I have no choice. I need to use my self taught acting skills. I begin to fake grunt and scream. I wipe the blood from my cuts and wipe it all on my mouth, tasting the metallic gritty liquid inside my teeth. "Come over here you bastards, you won! I have a debt I need to settle with Red anyway!" I scream. I curl myself over and wait for them to show up. The brute with the kanebo yanks me up by my arm and slings me forward while the other two follow behind in order. I need to figure out who is the fastest one here. Usually the bigger guy they are, you kill them last. The brute throws me forward again and all of them walk me along the wall where my sword is stuck in. All according to plan... All of their buzzing of their auras ceased, showing that they all have their guard down. "You got me assholes. I wanted to talk to Red anyway! I...needed to give him some cash back. I owe him. "

"Not so fast homie." says the young swordsman. "We can't go back empty handed." "I guess I won't disappoint ol' Red." I say, "I've wanted to see the big man again, I have a business proposition for him that I think that you three fuckwits won't understand." The rifleman bashes his stock into my guts. My innards then begin to burn with pain after the slam as I follow up with a raspy cough. He sneers whilst doing so and drags me a little. "Get the fuck up and start walking." He orders.

I weakly stand up and attempt to not grunt due to pain. They all begin to escort me; I walk for about another ten feet before I abruptly stop. "Hey, fuckhead, get moving. We'll put you down where you stand. " The rifleman threatens. I notice my gloves and they still dimly glow pink with the zero-gravity dust. . I slowly turn around and crack a smile at them. "You guys wanna see my cool gloves I made?" I ask. "Why should we care?" The brute cracks me in the face with the butt of his kanebo. I feel the numb pain of him cracking me on the cheek. "Get moving, we need a paycheck. Like we've said; we do not want to come back home empty handed. Otherwise, we'll use your little corpse as a marionette puppet." All of them chortle a little. I slowly raise my head up and stick out my hand. "Wanna see a magic trick?" I ask while holding the bottle. I already dropped a match into the bottle. I throw the bottle at them, hoping it will kill or possibly blind them. I dash behind the rifleman who was the closest to me. "What the hell?" He exclaims. The bottle then bursts with bullets; peppering the men with bullets and seemingly blinding the clubman. I then twitch my hands and a loud rumble comes from the walls. The two men behind the rifleman look at the wall in fear and a loud *SLAM* comes from the wall. The sheer weight of the swords crushed the floor and all four of us came crashing down and hit the floor with great force and relentless weight. To think that I could just drop the swords on people and kill them. How simple, yet effective!

The swords utterly annihilated the floor; leaving open a hole in the floor about the size of a large pickup truck. The dust and rubble was misted about like an artificial fog that clouded the room. By inhaling the dust, A surge of coughs ejected out of my mouth, making my throat very dry. Once the dust settled, we were on the electrical utility floor of the factory. It appears that this room was older than the place itself. Rusted metal boxes containing wires and circuits were laden all over the room. All sorts of dull hums came from the walls, signaling that the power was still running. It appears that there is still a generator or a power system still running somewhere, possibly in a back room. This was being signaled by the only hallway I can see in here. It appears to lead to an access stairwell. I can use this as my exit from the building. Originally, I was gonna just come out back the way I came in, but I have to improvise. The access stairwell was the other entrance option I had. I just chose the former because it seemed more straight forward. The two men who were once here were crushed under my swords followed by a lot of rubble from the wall and floor.I think the rifleman got crushed under the other rubble as well.

There was no sign of any life anywhere, just a bunch of blood trickling everywhere. My swords glowed purple due to the gravity dust being turned on . Each of my swords weighs about 1000lbs, weighing about as much as a small car (When the gravity is turned on.) All were in a mess of exposed ribs and spines from them being crushed. Blood and organs were smashed like bugs under my swords. The amount of blood in the human body is quite impressive and it shows since it is splattered all over the floor, The average human has about 5700 CCs of blood or 1.7 gallons which is optimal for what I am measuring for. I was still trying to get up from my little tumble and I felt all the concrete powder. get into my cuts and it sucked pretty bad. A piercing pain was seared into my skin like a thousand needles were jabbed in my skin.I began to scratch at my skin, only making it worse. Ahh dammit, I really shouldn't have done that. I twitch my hands again to get my swords; The dust was then shut off, returning them back to their normal weight. The swords are made of a tough titanium and tungsten alloy which also makes them insanely heavy. The base weight of just the blade, ignoring the hilt, handle and handguard, is about sixty pounds each. In total each blade is sixty five pounds and 5 ounces, give or take.

The swords tumbled down off of the rubble and slid to the floor. I turned on the zero gravity and picked them up. I holstered them into my jacket and looked back at the corpses, or at least what was left of them.

The corpses were completely unrecognizable so I guess I need to get blood samples this time . I hate it when I have to do this. I reach into my coat and take out my litmus kit and spray down the bodies with ammonia so the cops can't recognize the blood samples. Then I need to get a very specific amount of cc's for the corpses based on their body weights. I reach into my trenchcoat and pull out my "cleaning kit" a box the size of a shoebox. By the size of a shoebox; I mean a literal shoebox. I took out my syringes and took out thirty cc's of each guy. I pulled out 30 cc's because they look about 200lbs each and I just stopped caring. I don't give a crap if they dock it off of my pay for not being exact, It's not my fault that they have a case of anal detail and they want to be a bunch of annoying assholes.

I got out two cans of bug spray and sprayed all of them on one of each.(Ammonia is a main chemical in bug spray. If it makes contact with blood, there can't be a proper blood sample because it will be contaminated.) I think my work here is done, but wait where's the other guy? I hear a click of a revolver behind me; due to the sound, I snap around quickly and see the rifleman standing up and pointing a snub-nosed revolver at me. The revolver must have fallen over to him and he reloaded it. My vision then slowed down and for the smallest bit of time. It was just slow enough to see the hammer click back and to see the cloud of gunpowder igniting. I could feel my head shift to the right and the vision returned back to normal. The bullet whizzed past my face and the sound deafened me; the ringing was killing me. "What the hell?" He exclaims. He attempts to fire again and the gun clicks, possibly due to him not loading it properly or jamming.

. I realize that I have to act now before he pulls the trigger again. Thankfully, I have an idea. I take the syringe and stab him in the eye. I slam it so hard into his eye that the entire needle and part of the tube gets lodged into his socket. It almost looks like putting a round peg into the round hole. He begins to scream in pain and grabs at his face, hoping to pull out the syringe. This gives me just about enough time to get my swords back. I rip on the handles and I am now reunited with my weapons. Boy oh boy have I missed them. Something happened to me at this moment, I felt some sort of gentle touch across my chest. Almost as if some kind of phantom caress'd me, I felt as if I were being touched by an angel; commending me for a job well done.

I felt more contempt rather than anger at this moment. I could have just run away and let it be. I could have just left home and gone to bed and slept again. Now I am at my possible demise, but I think I may have the upper hand. I feel a stronger sense of obligation that I need to finish the job. I crave what is going to happen next, the only problem is I also sort of don't want to do anything. The guy is still writhing and screaming on the floor; It almost makes me want to just let him suffer a little bit longer. . "You wonder why you have lost?" I ask him. He still replies by screaming. "Can you stop screaming for a minute; I want to ask you something." He still continues. I can tell that in some capacity that he hears me because his screaming quickly turned to death snorts.

"It's not because you were not strong enough or smart enough. It was because of circumstance. Fated to happen. You could have just been a normal guy who just minded his business and moved on. You could have used your abilities for a better life as a huntsman or possibly do something constructive with them. . Personally, I say shitfire all to that, but the fact still stays. You can learn from a guy like me. A screwball that used his powers for his wants. You used your powers for your wants as well. I want to use them for people I consider to be morally bankrupt. This is my choice. Now, I will make a different choice at this moment.. I'm gonna give you the next ten secon..."

He frantically raises his arm, and fires the revolver again, completely missing me. "I guess you didn't understand...you brought this upon yourself." He resumes screaming and squirming around to no avail. A small bit of warmth came over me. It almost felt like the stroke across my chest.

I look at my weapons and I witness the glisten of cylinders in both of the swords and I flick off the hand guard and I hear the most beautiful sounds that my weapon can possibly make. A hard mechanized whirring, almost like an expensive clock, ticking away at time; my swords were now revolvers. Twelve shots are now all mine. I now felt all of the adrenaline rush to my brain and now I feel like I can conquer the gods. "OH, FUCK YEAH!" I scream , an odd feeling washed over me. My eyes had this odd feeling that they are on fire; like I am spewing straight flames out of my eyes. It was a more searing pain that felt as if someone was sticking cow brands on my adrenaline that is coursing through my veins was almost like some kind of drug. It brought to me almost a kind of orgasmic level of excitement and rage. The rifleman was able to recuperate himself to where he could see me. His eyes were wide with fear and his back slumped up against the wall. He saw something that absolutely terrified him and he knew that this was his demise. I was certain that his demise could come very soon. I slowly raise both of my revolvers up and aim them in his direction. He is still against the floor and frantically begins to beg.

"No...no..wait!" The rifleman screams. "I loved that gi…."

.One...Two...Three...Four...Five...Six...Seven...Eight...Nine...Ten...Eleven...Twelve, click, then silence. The sounds of the empty barrels still echoed through the air and settled only after about ten seconds. Twelve harbingers of death ejected out of my revolvers. I could feel something in my body that was rather glad. A spiteful demon had been satisfied with my sins I had carried out. The only other sound that I could hear was that of a faint screaming; Almost as if the soul was leaving the body.

I now feel very cold, as all of the fire and rage that I have had was snuffed out and put to rest for now; but damn didn't it feel good. My barrels were still smoking as almost if the rage was still ventilating from my body and were cooling off similar to my body going icy.

The body was borderline unrecognizable, similar to the other guys who I just crushed a little bit ago.I could barely just make out the face of the guy. The skull was split and had shards of bone painted red and crimson with the color of the grey matter exiting his face. I could see his eyes just barely hanging inside his eye sockets. I think he still has a face, but did he just twitch? Possibly just a few neurons firing that triggered a death thro. I suddenly feel a rush of more anger coming from me and I start to stomp at his head...repeatedly. I swore I stomped his head about nineteen or twenty times. "How do you feel now, asshole!" I scream at the corpse. "I let you off with a warning and look at you now! You're fucking dead!" I scream at the top of my lungs, hoping to let out whatever bit of my violence tantrum I have left and hope that I'll feel satisfied. I stalk over to where the body is located and I look at the revolver that is now complacent on the floor. It's covered in blood and all of the chambers appear to be fully loaded.

I tried to pop the cylinder open, but I looked closer and noticed that it was a single action rather than a double action. (A single action revolver is a type of revolving firearm where you must continuously cock the hammer back to fire it. Double action is similar to a normal pistol where the housing of the pistol rotates the cylinder and fires in quick pistols are both single action.) The pistol cylinder doesn't pop out so I use the ejector rod to pop out the rest of the bullets. All of the rounds except the two fired were live. How in the hell did the rounds not fire. I wonder….hmmm. I look at the hammer of the pistol and see that a bit of debris was jammed in the crevice of the hammer. To think that a little bit of rubble saved my life...holy fuck. The thought had just crossed my mind that a little piece of junk saved my head from being blown off. I then noticed that the only sentient part left of these guys was the bit of brain at the end of my boot.

Normally when I finish a job, I do feel a little bit of sickness, but this seems kind of unnatural. I mean I kind of just got done killing three men by crushing and shooting the hell out of em´. Why do I feel bad for doing it now all of a sudden? Was it that I actually heard the guy begging to stay alive because normally my target dies before they can say "Holy Asscheeks, an edgelord kid is going to kill me!" To be honest, these guys got the worst of what I have to offer. What I mean is that I could have done this really big elaborate show to scare them before I helped them make their passage to the other side. I could have a whole ass lightshow or a big spooky haunted house with corpses of whatever acolytes they could throw at me. Tactically scaring enemies is a good way to get them. There's no real special way I kill a target. Either I shoot them in the face or slice them in half with my swords.

Killing is killing and no matter what, I never got used to it. I notice that when people die, they kind of just lay in whatever expression they had when they passed. They express the anger or fear they had in their last moments and it makes me feel off. Animals don't really have that kind of expression about why they die. They just have their eyes open or closed. It still makes me feel weird because I don't have very good connections to people. I either try to distance myself or I try everything in my power to get on someone's good side. It sounds really inconsistent because it is. That is my level of trying to get along with people. I can count the amount of friends I had with one hand. I had two.

My sort of sister Callisto, and my sort of guardian Qrow. Callisto isn't really my sister by blood, but she protected me from a lot of stuff. She's really more like my mom in a sense, where she was more of a caretaker than a sister. I met her when I was about ten and she was about thirteen. She just found me and sort of told me that I was her little brother and me and her took a walk. We walked for five days until we hit the coastline of Anima and snuck on a ship to Vale.

Screw these guys, I'm going home. There was a stairwell that led up to a fire exit door. I slopped against the railing; pulling myself up the stairs. At the top, I could see the door window emblazoned with a white light. A silhouette was in the middle of the window. The silhouette seemed to be in the shape of a woman. I rummage through my pockets to shove the .44 bullets into my revolvers. I sling the revolvers forward, ready for whoever will come out. "Who goes there? Vale Police Department!" I scream is a slight flash of light and the silhouette disappears. I pickup the pace going up the stairs and slam the door open. I sling my revolvers out and aim into the open field trying to see who is a foot outside. I stumbled out of the factory and I collapsed onto the ground. My arms were outstretched along the ground and to my left my scroll was slung onto the ground. I get back up to pick it up, look at the time and see that it is 2:57 AM. That guy….did he say something? He loved something? He loved that g-something. Maybe a girl? Why would he want to tell me that? His last words of confession perhaps?

Shame for him; If he wanted to talk, he shouldn't have shot at me. Fucking dumbass.

To think that about three hours ago there were a bunch of people here to have a party and I came and ruined it by shooting up the place. I severely underestimated those guys and I almost got killed. I have absolutely no excuse for why I couldn't have just walked in and walked out. I got super sloppy and I almost lost my swords to them. My swords are almost everything I have and about thirty million in cash due to bounties and questionable business practices, but I have no clue what to spend it on.

I have the power to fix a lot of things, it's just that if I use any of it I'll get arrested and go to prison forever. The reason why is because a lot of it is either not laundered or unmarked. I could literally change a thousand people's lives, but sadly I can't. Realistically my value is, hold on I need to check my account info. I have 37,228 lien to spend on basically anything. I have about a one-years minimum salary to spend on myself. I kind of want to check out that fancy Faunus massage parlor, or buy upgrades to my guns...I gotta get home and get some salt water on these cuts.

I stuff my scroll back into my pockets and I look back at the factory and see that it is still there and now it is haunted for all eternity. I gotta get home. I begin to walk and I get about a quarter of a mile away and I see the factory begin to set fire. I think I may have shot one of the electrical panels out and it has started an electrical fire. Shit..there goes the evidence. Well, I guess I have covered my trail again.

It took me three hours of stumbling around on buses and walking to get back to my home. I felt the cold night air almost as if winter was coming again. The dimly lit streets almost segued my descent into that darkness I would later feel. It was so cold and dark that it made me more exhausted than I already was. I was so tired that I took no time to take off any of my clothes. I just walked inside and crashed in my bed. I could just feel the surface of my face combining with my bed when I fell; I couldn't express how happy I was to actually be home..

I typically try to stay out of the house as much as I can, but something felt a little different. I'm not really going to complain because I actually want to fall asleep this time. There's only one thing I hope that won't happen; I won't have any of these weird nightmares again. For the last two weeks I have been having the same dream for a while. I can't really find any kind of rhyme or reason why it happens. The only explanation I can offer is that I got some kind of concussion or brain damage. I couldn't tell you when I could have gotten my brain all jostled up, but I am probably feeling it right now. Either way, something inside of me tells me that something is very, very wrong. Wait….what happened?

V

I was at the foot of darkness again: The Void. The true personification of all things that are hidden behind the true nature of me. All void and no substance. There is no matter here, the edge of the other side. I knew that something in here was watching me; waiting to kill me again. The only solution to this problem is to simply not panic. Why should I panic? This is all just a really bad dream and I should just deal. Every direction I would look, there was just all black. Almost as if I was cast into a black sea of nothing. There is no real reason for me to be scared. Is there?

I knew that if I were able, I could wake up: I can't as of now. I want so badly to wake up and try to be at peace with myself and get some good rest. Nothing would be more accepted than me actually sleeping in peace for once. My only real wish in life is to see my mom and Callisto again and to live in peace. I know that it is a bit counter productive that I am a bounty hunter who hunts others down for a living. That isn't exactly a very comfortable lifestyle, but hey at least I am decent at it. For years I have been yearning for a chance at peace and my only way is to go back to school.

The only thing I can remember is that a couple of days back I signed a tenure so I could go back to Beacon. The only place I could call home. A safe haven away from all the decadence of my actions and to where no one will try to kill me again. I can finally be at peace. I don't care if I have a team that hates me again; I only ask for a nice place to sleep and no worries about the outside world. Damn, I already feel like a little kid. Home, such a nice word.

Not very many things make me sad, but this is one of them. Being sad just really sucks. It is a crying shame that most of the time I am kind of sad inside. I have no real reason to be sad, but I just sort am. When you are a little kid you don't really have to worry about the really bad stuff in life. You have people that look out for you and care about you. That is why I want to see all of them again. I would appreciate it if I could just be happy instead of scared. The only way I can be happy is if I just tough it out.

I have to overcome this void. This is definitely the beginning of something that I have to finish and nothing will stop my progress into figuring it out. It all started about five days ago; I kept having the same dream over and over again. I see two figures in two colors. A white and a black one; both of the figures are in the shape of women. One is cast in all white but her skin and face are almost impossible to see: The black one is in the same cast. The two appeared in the beginning saying that they all knew who I was and that they knew more than what I truly could remember. The white one disappeared and the black one stayed. The black one would make me see all kinds of terrible nightmares: All of which ended in me dying.

Now having dreams about death and mortality is a bit commonplace, but having it all the time, especially for a period of time is definitely not good for your health. I couldn't give a shit less for my health considering that I am surprised that death hasn't graced me yet. The mental part is a bit more tricky than eating habits or sleeping habits. The only thing aside from my possible concussions is that my body is probably telling me that I am not getting enough nutrients and my brain is making some kind of projection of how I am not exactly in the best of health.

My brain is pulsating and feels like it will explode at any moment. Odd thing is I am unconscious at the moment and I still feel the throbbing pain; Almost as if there is a heartbeat in my head. As my brain slowly beats, dim flashes begin and look as if I am falling again. The falling seemed to go on forever as if minutes were seconds. There was nothing in front of me , only just a big hole. I guess almost as if I am being thrown in a pit that never ends. It got to a point where the equilibrium came full circle and there was no movement.

After what seemed like an eternity, I found myself sitting in the middle of nothing. I heard nothing, saw nothing and felt nothing. The chair below me looked as if it were a bar stool. A simple wooden bar stool stood underneath my butt and felt a little bit familiar. Hell, it even looked familiar as well. Almost as if it were a stool from one of the biggest and my most favorite joint in all of Vale: reason why is that there was a yellow splotch of paint on the back legs.. This was my favorite chair to sit in because it was at the end of the bar where all the food was put on plates. Sometimes I would snatch a couple fries or some guy's salad when I was were the best because they had buy one get one free wings during happy hour. Happy hour happened to be at about two in the morning, so I had to compensate for a bit more of a night-owl kind of lifestyle.

I really wish I can come back. Maybe I'll go back there later this week if I have time. I'm not exactly sure if I can due to me being at school. Normally, Beacon is a bit uptight about people leaving the campus and usually allows students to leave during the end of the first semester. Sometimes they kind of just forget it is a rule and just left people out at the beginning of the year. There are some students that live off campus, but have to get up at six in the morning just to make it in time for the ship there.

Blackstone is this sort of retro-esque nightclub with a whole lot of esoteric crests from families that owned the place previously. It gets renovated once every ten years due to what kind of stuff is in style. Think of it as a trending nightclub that caters to everyone: My kind of place. A place that feels where everyone will have your back there while also looking at pretty girls, drinking heavily, and eating a lot of food.

The bar was still how I remember it. Four bowls of bar party mix were all in a perfect equidistant line just how they were normally. A stack of magazines from all facets of topics ranging from housekeeping to porno mags were located on the far right end where I would normally sit. A whole wide malenge of different bottles of wines, whiskeys, waters, sangrias, sake, sojus, brandys, beers, and beverages were laden all across a wide shelf that ranged the width of the bar.

This place almost felt like home again. I actually felt kind of relieved and happy somewhat, but…..something still felt off. The entire club formed behind me when I was awestruck by the bar. The entire place seemed just as I remembered it; A whole range of booths surrounded the gigantic hexagonal floor almost seamlessly . In the middle, was a large dance floor shaped in the form of a plus reticle. The LED lighting from underneath it was pulsating bright neon colors like cyan, pink, and purple. Up at the top, there was a large fixture of lights that strobed down on the floor,; lighting up any random surface with a flamboyant color. It was like having a drug fueled seizure of sensational colors that pumped up your body; as if your blood was being transformed into pixie dust.

Across the way from the floor, there was a large stage that laid adjacent to the back fire exit. The stage was just as extravagant as the dance floor . A runway was extended out towards the outer edge of the dance floor. Two poles were on the center of each end where dancers would come and dance here. Usually it was only once a month that dancers would come here. I remember that they didn't hire skanks off the streets.

No, the dancers were these traveling fox faunus quintuplets straight from Vacuo, real professionals. All of them were really nice last I remember and holy shit, were they hot as hell. They had really tawny skin that looked like brown silk and the slim build of an elegant ballerina. All of them also had red hair that looked like it was fake, but they insisted that it was natural. All of them looked so similar that I swore they were clones. I hope that they come back again so I can say hello.

Above the lights is a large octahedral shape encased in glass where the boss sits. Usually that is where the owner's office is located and is fixed there so he can see everything that happens. The eye in the sky, the king of the hill sort of thing. Word has it that Red Maelstrom bought out the place and renovated it again. I haven't been there in about a year. Last I remember I saw a guy get kicked out when there was still warning tape all around the place. The bouncer slapped him in the head so hard that it left a print in the guy's face. I've bumped into him a couple of times before….oh yeah his name was Slappy. Wait...where is everyone?

There is one detail that should be concerning to me at this very instance: There is no one inside. Now normally there would be a mosh pit worth of people in here even on a bad day. There was something wrong at this very moment and I needed to get to the bottom of it all. I stood up, away from the bar and walked around the floor looking for some kind of exit. The only one that I can see in the immediate area is the exit by the stage.

I walk over to the door by the stage and attempt to open the fire exit. I pull and push at the door as hard as I can, no results. I push and pull at the door some more and it starts to get to me. The door is definitely locked (No shit). I kick at the door and punch at it. I then feel a slight pain in my hands and legs. Normally you are not supposed to feel pain in dreams. Maybe it's just nerves acting up and my limbs are acting screwy.

The doors seemed to look like the fire exit doors to the factory. Now that I think of it, the stairs looked more rusted out, like the factory stairs. Wait...this is the stairwell. I look back and the club still looked the same. I push on the door some more and it actually opens to the outside.

The outside is so much more different than the lot of the factory. Instead of being near a highway, there was a large forest and a field. The trees were full in size and looked to be a bunch of grand oaks. A cool breeze blew through my hair. The whole forest was lit by the shallow glimmer of the moonlight. The moon that stayed cracked since the beginning of time was shown on me tonight. In the distance, there was a small cabin that had a couple of sedans parked outside.

The lights in the house were on and shining dimly; just enough for me to see the windows clearly. I appear to be about a couple dozen meters away from the house so I cannot see in the windows that easily. I slowly walk to the house and start to feel a lot colder. The breeze has begun to pick up speed and feels faster. The blistering cold is beginning to slam harder on me, but I keep moving forward towards the house. I have to know what is inside and I need to get somewhere warm. As I get closer to the house, a series of rumbles inside the house begin to become louder and a bit of yelling is heard. I assume there is some kind of fighting going on inside so I need to prepare.

The house is within ten meters of me and I attempt to draw my revolvers. There is nothing. Wait. Where the fuck are my weapone? " FUCK, W-WHERE ARE THEY?" I feel scared, more scared than normal when it comes to me losing my weapons. This is like the fight I had last night, where my adrenaline is pumping and my fight or flight response is kicking in. My body chose to fight, but my mind chose the latter. The fear was rapidly increasing and is becoming panic. My breathing is becoming more rapid and shallow, almost as if I am hyperventilating . I haven't felt panic in a long time and it doesn't really feel that nostalgic to me; It actually feels quite the contrary.

I decide to start running towards the house and I press myself against the wall to the front of the building. The warmth of the house is emanating outside and is mostly subdued by the high gale winds outside. I look back and the trees are swaying vicariously by the sheer might of the wind. The yelling and tumbling is growing louder and a husky voice can be heard from the cabin, "Jacobs! Grab the fucking guns!" A voice yells.

As the voice ceases, the rumbling continues and then it suddenly stops. I swore that an angered dragon was present here, because an absolute roar of fire came from the cabin. The roar of a machine gun ripped through the cabin and blood splattered all over the windows; The windows then shattered due to the rapid hail of bullets. Bullets began to pierce through the wood and I flop over in surprise and fall to the ground, covering my head as I press my face into the ground. After about seven seconds, the bullets stopped. The wind ceased and became stable, there was no more wind. The cold seems to have lifted and the ripping of the gun had ceased. I look up and see that a couple of bodies are strewn just outside of the windows.

Then, a loud blast comes from the building and a body is flung outside as if being yanked by an invisible cord. "BOOM!" By the loud blast, I assume it was from a shotgun due to the dull blast and how far it blew the body outside of the cabin. I slowly walk up to the door and see that it has been blown off the hinges. The only option is to surrender to whoever killed these guys. I start to shake and stick my hands out to show my surrender. No one replies or says anything. The sounds of the people inside were still quiet, almost as if the people disappeared.

I peer around the corner and I see them: The two figures. The white one was pressed against the wall of the cabin and the black one was on the ground. Both of them look more fatigued than they normally are. The normally look like they have not an ounce of tiredness at all. They both are standing in the wake of about eleven dead bodies. All of them were wearing red suits and were turned into swiss cheese due to the amount of bullets fired. I would have to guess that about forty to fifty rounds were fired in that span of seven seconds and it really showed. I assumed a lot of these guys did not have auras simply due to them not utilizing special huntsman weapons and they all were killed very easily. I would put myself on the same level as these guys due to me not really knowing how to use my aura.

The two figures both stand up and look towards me in my general direction. This time something felt different; They both stayed and pointed towards me. Their shapes seemed to glow more vehemently than normal as they lowered their arms. "You…..where is your soul? Where is your passion laid to rest?" The white one asks. Both of them have similar sounding voices, but the white one seems more soft spoken while the black one seems more aggressive and husky. "It is dead and gone. It's been gone for a long time." The black one replies.

"Is there anything we can do?" The white one asks. "The only salvation is suffering." The black one replies. "If that is what we have to do." The white one submits. The white one grabs the shotgun and shoots me. The blast knocked me back and flung me as far as the strewn corpse.

At this moment, I knew that I wasn't going to survive this time and I was right. Here I was on the ground again; I was among the scum that I killed. This is the rightful place for me to be laid to rest. I would have expected a bit more fanfare and explosions, but getting blasted by a shotgun is not so bad.

I noticed that a lot of snow had formed on the ground and actually felt a lot warmer than usual. Snow would freeze my balls off and this time it isn't for some reason. As I fell, my body did get close to the other guy. The other guy had a weird looking haircut with a star shaved on the back of his head. Funny looking haircut for a gangster thug.

The two women disappeared and there was no one left. I felt a sudden wave of relief that the two were gone. A massive weight was taken off of my shoulders and I am left out here. I can calmly find some rest here where I shall die tonight. I look down at my abdomen where the blast hit me. I am bleeding out of many holes near my stomach. It looks as if someone stuck a bunch of holes in my guts. The shotgun must have used birdshot. Fucking amatures. Thankfully, this is a dream and I don't have to die. I sat up and looked over at the body that was lying next to me. Heh, fuckin wierdo got the best end of that gun. The guy has slightly graying hair that looks as if he stuck his head in a blender. He also has a star that is shaved into the back of his head. Whatever that represents, this guy is nuts.

Red Maelstrom, himself. Dead right in front of me.

Chapter Two: I'll Say Good Morning

You know that weird paralysis feeling you get when you wake up? Like you really do not want to get up? Well, I had this feeling multiplied by a billion. I honestly feel like a living turd, sluggish and weighed. I could never understand why people feel like this whenever you get out of bed. Well, I must get up if I want to be productive. I build up every ounce of power I have, and I lean myself up and I now have a better view of my apartment room. The entire place is painted with all my favorite colors, red, orange, black and green. I look over to my left and I see a corner with an armor mannequin with my outfit equipped onto it.

The rack has a pink tank top that is over-shrouded by a large black leather trench coat. On the neck there is a necklace with a wolf emblem. The eyes on it are studded with rubies and garnet gems to give it an evil look to it. On the bottom half of the display is a pair of worn out jeans that are designed to feel like sweatpants. Where they are incredibly flexible like sweats. Around the waist is an ammo belt that can hold four ports for .44 speed loaders. Both sides have a holster for my twin revolver/ swords right at the breast. Funny thing is I have my own name for guns. Bandit and Arbalest. Dumb, but cool at the same time.

I then move my eyes away from the mannequin and look to the right and I notice my kitchenette area. I see all my kitchen utensils lying about the sink, but they are all dirty and covered in mildew. There's the usual stuff like the microwave, stove, cabinets, drawers etc. The wall over there is painted green with settling cracks and peeling paint. .I really need to remodel this place, it looks terrible. The only issue is that I know jack shit about carpentry. I think Markus ripped me off a little bit because there's supposedly bats in the boiler dump upstairs. Funny thing is that I've always wanted a pet bat. I think a funny name would be In Peace because if he/she dies, I can say "Rest in Peace In Peace." Maybe I had a little too much to drink. I might repaint this place because I'm sick of the drywall and the shitty paint job done here. My legs immediately start to tingle out of atrophy and I feel the strain in the back of my thighs. I can feel my blood trying to wilt my legs from atrophy and to get me moving. I then throw myself out of the bed, so I can get the blood pumping in my legs. I fall to the ground next to my bed and I look to my left and I see that the underneath of my bed is clean. Freshly vacuumed. Like almost spotless. I roll over to where my chest is, facing down and I push myself up to become fully mobile.. I look around the bedroom area of my room and all I see is a plastic white hamper, and some dirty underpants laying around.

I feel a slight chill in my chest when I stand up and I look down and I see that I'm not wearing a shirt. I only see my chest. I'm also wearing a pair of pajama pants that have wolves stitched all over them and the color is all in monochromatic colors. I look to my right again to see that I have a body mirror next to my bed and I sort of want to look at it. I walked over to the mirror and I can't really see myself because my vision is a little blurry from my eyes being shut. I only see a slightly above average height seventeen-year-old man. (.Or a creepy one if that's the alternative.) I walk away from the mirror and I sit on the edge of my bed and I wonder to myself about that weird dream.

Now for someone that doesn't get much sleep I normally don't have nightmares that often. For the last two weeks I have been having the same dream. Why now? Also, who were those girls? Where did they come from? Also, that night club looked a hell of a lot like Blackstone. The way the building was shaped and how it was built. The hexagon shape and the cyan and purple lights, straight out of the old times. Why did I see Red Maelstrom dead?

I'll think about all of that later. I've got another day ahead of me. I need to be on some stability today. I can't be all wack and no smack.

I switch on the lamp, stand up and walk slowly to my left to see the wooden nightstand with a red shaded lamp with orange fold on the sides. I got the lamp from some flea market and I got it for only, like fifteen cents. (Thrifty) There is a chain hanging down from the bulb splice. I gave it a pull and the room then became illuminated by an almost fire colored overcast. My legs still feel weak after not using them and truth fully that's all I have. My legs are like fifteen times more powerful than my arms. That's why when I became a huntsman, I didn't ever use my arms because I can't punch worth shit. I stare over to the far wall to the right of my bed and see the light radiating off the wall.

It almost looks like the room has a campfire inside it and feels like the warm and comfortable feeling of fire. Honestly, it makes me feel like roasting hot dogs and some burgers. A thought occurs, I never had a burger...actually. I would always see in movies that people would make burgers at family events. I guess I can just focus on my diet of boiled cabbage, rice, hot wings and raw spinach. I can worry about that stuff later. I stretch out my arms in front of me and I feel an orchestra of cracks of my bones and tendons realign with each other. Releasing all of that build up gas in my tendons. The cracks almost feel like they clear up all kinds of tension that I had after sleeping. Thankfully, now that the room is lit, I can see my doors that line the small hallway towards the entrance. The hallway is painted plain white with white baseboard that happens to be peeling at the seams. The three doors lead to three areas: The one on the right of the hallway is a door that leads to the bathroom and the one on the left leads to the exit. The other down the middle is my closet.

Well let's get dressed and get something done. I walk over to my bathroom to wash my face. I walk into the bathroom and I switch on the light. The room is also painted plain white with cheap tile on the wall. Some of the tile is peeling off and looks like it hasn't been remodeled for about thirty years. There are some settling cracks in the wall that are about the width of a pencil. Inside, you can see some of the electrical lines. To the left of me there is a mirror about the size of two shoeboxes. Just enough to fit my head.

I gaze upon the mirror and I notice that my vision is completely cleared, and I can see now in full clarity. I see a young man with a long,layered haircut. It sort of looks like a lion's mane a little bit, mixed with a beach bum sort of look. It also appears to be a bit spiked due to it being layered. Except It is layered on the forehead and has two long droops of spiked black hair. Almost like icicles. I notice on the back of my head that I have a small pony tail that ends at my shoulders. It is tied up in a cylinder-shaped rubber clamp the size of an eraser. Ugh, I honestly don't like my hair tied up. I just think it makes me look more and more like a sumo wrestler. I un-clamp the clamp and it fans out making my hair look larger. My hair now stretched out to my shoulders. Much better. I also have white streaks in my hair for some reason. I have no idea why I have them or how I got them. I think it might be like a birthmark or something.

On the left side of my face I have a giant scar that goes down my left eye. It goes down in a straight line like someone drew on it with a marker and used a razor blade to slice it open.

I have a small but dignified nose and a medium sized mouth. I also have a teeny bit of scruff on my chin, but overall, I look clean. I honestly envy those guys in the movies because they look handsome with their short haircuts, hairless faces, perfect bodies and unyielding charisma. They look like they were handcrafted by the gods themselves, like they were born to look perfect. Here I am with this fugly-mug. Still, getting plastic surgery is something that I don't have the idiocy or guts to do. I don't want to walk around looking like a plastic action figure; It's not worth the money.

I move on to my morning routine of brushing my teeth, putting deodorant on and playing my favorite game: ¨FIND SOMETHING TO EAT IN THE FRIDGE¨. I fling open the fridge door to see what kind of yummy shit is inside. The whooshing coolant of the fridge sends a shiver down my spine; It tells me that this is one cold ass refrigerator. The fog of the coolant blinds me while flooding out of the fridge. Once it settles, I see the inside of the fridge; All white and two flimsy metal racks. There is a small unopened container of cream cheese and a can of tuna. One half bottle of ketchup, one bottle of hot sauce and one severed hand. How did that get there? On the bottom there's an empty case of beer and the half empty bottle of orange juice. I grab the almost empty bottle and gulp the rest of it down. Tasting the tangy sensation of oranges. Yum… I'll get my clothes on now. I then throw the bottle across the room with unnecessarily hard force and it slaps against the wall and falls into a nearby trash can. I am a fucking basketball master.

When I am done wasting my time in the kitchen, I walk over to my closet and put on my "citizen outfit." I wear this because I try to blend into the crowd and lay low. What, do you really think that an assassin would put a flag on themselves by dressing like a model.. Nonsense! I tend to ignore that rule quite often. After all; huntsmen have really cool outfits.

The outfit consists of a black mateo jacket with whited out jeans and a pink tank top. I take an extra pair of sweats just in case I need them. Jeez, I guess I really stand out huh?

I walk outside and see the highway of the city of Vale. Highway 108 to be exact. The star lined city that you can see for thousands of miles. "The Gem of all of Remnant." As Cyril Ian on T.V. says. Personally, I would call it a turd instead of a gem, but it works out in the end. (It rhymes a little bit.) I never really cared for the city and I always predict that eventually some nut job will get enough courage to destroy the city. It'll happen, one day. I have to admit that Lisa Lavender is kinda cute but I'll never be as famous as those guys. I envy them. Weirdly though, I am kind of attracted to this place. There is so much wrong with it that almost seems like there is so much to do. I turn around and look behind me and I see the cellar doors on the ground that lead to my house, or hole as you may call it. . The guy I mentioned, Markus, is this old janitor that owns this storm shelter. He built it himself, but he rents the place out for not money, but ammo.

I can see the highway bending all around the place and see the shimmering lights of lampposts and cars that light up the city like Christmas lights. The fact of the matter is that even though I hate this city with all my heart, I'm still drawn to it. Like some ex girlfriend that you can't forget about but always keeps coming back. I've never had one in my life but one day I will have the girl of my dreams. I can say that I am grateful that I have a place to call home. I remember when I first came here with Uncle, he told me that this is the land of opportunity and I should make the most of it. When I was that age, I had no idea what he was talking about. Either we were looking for fame, fortune and beautiful women. Or a ton of booze and guns. I'd wager he was betting on the latter.

I stare up into the sky and I see that the moon is the same as it usually is. Giant and barren but with a huge chunk missing out of it. There are no stars out tonight; I'm assuming that's a bad thing because the news lady always says at the end of all of her forecasts, "If there are no stars in the sky, the slower the night will go by." If you are disgusted by where I live I will tell you right here an' now.. I live in a storm shelter underneath a highway. It isn't the most glamorous but It's better than paying two thousand lien a week for a semi-good apartment in The Gallows. That is where I'm headed to make my runs. I have these little ammo rings in the city because I don't like buying ammo for my sword, Vale has to charge up the ass for ammo. I found out that in Mistral, one 45-70govt. bullet costs 3.75 lien but in Somnus it costs 7.85. What kind of bullshit do these guys think they're running here? I thought I was a scam artist here.

One of my most visited customers is this guy named Kains, the head owner of Kains's Book Rental. . I don't know him well personally, but I can say I know him well enough to where I can say that he is a nice guy. I can't believe he allowed me to rent out space at his store. The only thing that will keep me at his place is not to tell him what I am running.

I know a shortcut that leads through the tenants of Faorland's. I walk over the path that leads under the highway to make my way to my ''checkpoint'' at Kains's Book Rental. If you are wondering what I mean by "checkpoints'' is that I have these little safe zones all throughout the city that I set up as hideouts and armories. I use these to get cheap or free ammo and guns. It's a way to save more money. It's kind of a little thing that me and some bounty hunters run. Basically whenever they have ammo they don't use, they give it to me. Almost like a thrift shop of bullets.

Kains's is a little way from here so I have to get moving.

After about thirty minutes of walking through dozens of streets and alleyways, I finally get to a sidewalk next to the Foarland's complex and I don't see anything on the outside. What stands before me is a fourteen-story apartment complex. It's a nice place but has an odd feel to it though. It is painted bright yellows and oranges and looks completely out of the parallel but overall it looks good. I can give the owner credit, he sure knows how to do his own thing. It parallels the total opposite of sanity because the building is almost the opposite of all the buildings around it because of its colors. The buildings are clean and are unscathed in color and texture. They are all freshly painted white and are brightened by the lampposts. The posts make the buildings look like yellow splotched paintings and make me think of all kinds of fruits, like bananas. The complex keeps its color but looks a little rundown, like it hadn't been remodeled in thirty years.

I look around and see all kinds of stores lining the streets, that are all types of businesses. Grocery stores, paint stores, gun stores, dust stores and pretty much everything you can imagine. I can say that the city of Vale sure has a knack for food and convenience. I see at the bottom of the buildings are lined with fresh flower beds and there are some stands for marketers on the sidewalk. They might sell fruit and bread or maybe even cheese here. It kind of takes me back to when me and Callisto were on the streets.

Me and her planned out a whole heist to steal some cheese, but we were unlucky. The cart we planned to snatch wasn't there at the right time. After that we had to call it off. So we decided to go to a supermarket and stole a bunch of shopping carts.

Callisto is everything to me and she is away at Atlas Penitentiary rotting away in a cell somewhere. I'll probably never see her again. I wish that me and her could continue our adventures as a kind of mom and son duo. Mom….damn. I don't really remember her that much. I do know a couple things about her. I can remember that she was a huntsman. She was a damn good one though.

I remember that my mom would always be in the backyard at night swinging her sword around for seemingly no reason. It would keep me up at night because I could hear her grunting and screaming in frustration when she swung it I lived with her, I would watch her for hours and I would try to imitate her when she wasn't looking. I became kind of good at it after a while. One day she saw me in the backyard with her sword and she took it out of my hand, sat me down and told me she was worried about me around her sword. She then told me that she does it to fight the bad guys and kill monsters. She said that I wasn't capable of doing so. She thinks it will be better for my well being. She told me that I am a very intelligent boy and I need to pursue a more practical and stable career. Haha, yeah that is not what happened at all.

After I lost her and Callisto, I found this guy (or he found me) named Qrow and he said he was my uncle. "Distant Uncle," he told me. He took me under his wing and showed me everything he knew about weaponry and how to make bootleg whiskey. He made a deal with me and told me if I work at his bar, he will teach me everything he knows. I went through with the deal. So far It has been that for a while.

Yes, my life and childhood sucked, and I missed out on being a normal kid. But, yet again, I wouldn't have learned to take care of myself. I wish that I lived better and in prosperity. I mean that I wish I grew up to be a normal kid, but how does one define normal? Now, feeling sorry for myself, I must get to Kains's.

I remember that Kain's place is on Flimson street and now I'm on Alita Avenue. So, I just have to head east towards Dust till Dawn, the biggest dust salesman in all of Vale City, at least one of the biggest.

I make a right at the Intersection and I can see that Kains's store is closed, which makes sense because it's like 3:30 in the morning. I'm surprised I didn't get arrested by the cops because I'm out after curfew. I stand in front of the store and it just looks like any other store on the block. Painted white and some stripes of red on the trim.

There are two big windows in the front with the shutters down behind them. The store is basically like any other book store; a store with different shelves that mark different genres of books, all lined up in an orderly fashion. At the end is a register with some idiot that drinks like ten coffees in one hour. That's not how all of them work, but It sure seems like it. My hideout is on the top of the building, so I have to use the access ladder to get on top. I walk through the alleyway to get to the back of the building and I see the ladder is put up, locked up.

Damnit, I guess I have to do it the hard way. The only way I can get on the ladder is if I jump onto it. I backup and I run towards the wall and I step onto it, I kick-off and I am now airborne. I kick off the wall to the other one on the other side, I kick off again and I grab onto the ladder. I look down and I see the ground shrink, I might be about twenty feet off the ground: maybe 20,000 feet. ( I might have terrible depth perception.) I climb up the rungs that seem to drag on forever and I get up onto the top of the building. I can hear the creaking with every step and every grasp I put on them. There is an elevation where the door to the lower floor is. A staircase access to the inside of the building. On the door it reads " Janitors Only." I assume it is a gag sign due to the comedical font but I've never seen a janitor work for Kains. I walk over to it and I walk right inside leaving the real world….

Inside the building is a loft that is about fifteen times the size of your average broom closet that is also painted a plain beige color with a single hanging light bulb. Tuck doesn't seem to have any taste I guess. I see stacks of crates that reach the ceiling, labeled by each type. Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Shotguns, Revolvers, Tactical Ordnance, etc. I reach for the .44 ammo and fill the six holes in my revolver cylinder. The clinking of the bullets is like a beautiful choir to my ears. My own little candy store, full of weapons of destruction and carnage. I've got all of these from White Fang raids and plunders of their warehouses; most of them were done by associates that wished to dispose of any excess ammo or guns.. My job is to let them get rid of guns and I sell them to small-time clients. On top of the revolvers box there is a small black box, that is my mailbox. I let my gunrunners deliver letters for complementary reasons or new bounties.. I open my small, black box and I look at what is inside the box. There are two letters, one is written on notebook paper and It is written by Qrow and the other is a red envelope and is the color of my gunrunner letters.

I opened the one by Qrow first.

It reads, "Hey kid, I'm leaving for a week to take care of some unfinished business….. that I need to finish. I need you to take care of the bar while I'm gone. Just make sure you don't kill anyone and serve to clean the place right. Adums will take over the drinks. -High fives, Qrow"

"

Hmm. Classic Qrow, always a man of simplicity and sheer honesty. I respect that. Why did he leave me soda? Freakin' booze hog. I check to read the second letter. It reads,

"Hey Seraek, It's me, Leon. I want to tell you that I have a new person for the team, I think it might be good for both you, me and Tenebris. Her name is Cyzra and she's a transfer from Shade and she's a… little weird. She's a Faunus and I hear that she is a performer at Blackstone. She sings some kind of music but that is all I know. She'll be here by the 15th and I need you to convince her to be in our team.I hope that Ozpin will allow her to be on our team since we don't have a member. And also her name coincidentally starts with a C so it speaks for itself. Someone told me she works there in the music department. She will be dancing in some kind of band.

I need you to help me.

- Leon"

This is a little odd, Leo has never given me a letter before. But what's weird is how the hell did he know about my gun-running business? I've never told him before about my business.

Someone must have snitched. Plus he didn't even tell me what the hell she looked like.

The bus usually leaves at 7:30 and we get there at about 8:00. Classes start at 9:30. Today was the first day of my second year and everyday gets even more exciting because it means one less day until graduation and I can be a full-fledged gun for hire. The adventures I've always wanted to go on. It's one of my only dreams to be free out in the world and be a badass for hire.

I check my scroll to see what time it is. It reads 7:03 in the A.M.

I gather my things to head out to school. I went to the door that leads to the access stairwell and I headed downstairs to the front entrance. Kains is at the reception desk and seems to have his face in a book. He's sort of a big guy. He's way more brawny than I am. He has lighter black hair; Minine's darker but in all he's pretty cool. He does have a big honkin' afro that always looks funny to me.

I decided to play a joke on him. I pull out my right revolver and I pull the hammer back to make a cocking noise and I then say in a fake, gruff voice.

"Stick 'em up cowboy…".

He does not react but turns around to answer my bad joke. "Haha, really funny Sera" He said in a bored voice.

"Mornin' Kaizer." I replied cheerfully. ''How's the workout schedule?"

He sighs in annoyance, " The only exercise I'm having is on my bank account." he replies, "The damn dust prices keep rising due to that embargo in Vacuo."

I am a little confused why some oddly buff but nerdy bookshop owner needs something like that, so I decided to ask him, "Uuuh, why exactly do you need dust?''

"I need it for a "project" I'm workin' on for school." he replied, in a slightly annoyed manner.

"I can hock some for you bud if you'd like." I offered. "I know a guy that sells for decent prices out in Korek."

Kain looks confused and asks, " The hell's Korek?"

I quickly remembered that it's one of my gunrunning operating districts. "It's a street near the docks."

I'm such an idiot

"Ok, I'll consider it." Kains replied. "Hey bro, you need to get to school, I think?"

"Oh dammit." I mutter. "It's 7:10 A.M.", looking at my scroll.

I readjust my holster and I sprint to the front door and leap outside to the outside world once again. The sun is now just barely up over the horizon and day has now begun. People are walking around with their nice suits and their briefcases heading off to their office jobs. The sidewalks have become more bustling with people on their way to work. I could hear some of them on calls talking to their friends or family. I check my scroll to see the time again, it reads 7:11. Damnit! The bus comes at 7:15, but the stop is about ten miles away so it's basically impossible to get there on foot even if I run there. Screw it I'm running. I dash to the street and the people around me look normal but once I gain momentum, they will look like hazes of light. I yank my revolvers out of their holsters and I fire into the ground, shooting me up in the air. I hear the piercing sound of the bullets cracking and I can feel the wind blowing against my face and it feels cold. I fire behind me again to get momentum. The buildings below me seem to be racing to get to me. I suddenly touch the top and the wind intensifies. The friction of the air is pummeling my face and feels like there are a million tiny bullets hitting me in the face. I cross my legs while flying upright and I spin, aim and fire behind me to gain more speed. I hit another rooftop and fired again. I look up above the horizon and I can see the docks. The wooden towers look like toys at this height but seem to be growing closer the faster I become. The wind is unbearable and I feel terrible but I must keep going.

I fire once more and my vision becomes distorted and I see all kinds of colors flashing around me. The rainbow is getting a taste of me today.A taste of my badassery! My vision then sees something familiar, a figure in the distance.

It's shrouded in black. It's her. The siren. The woman in my dreams. She doesn't say anything but I hear the whispers "Seraek….Seraek…."

She's not real, she's not real. Get your head in S. She's not there. I opened my eyes again and there's just the morning sky, orange and bright in its entirety. I see the sun rising from the shining sea. A ball of blazing glory is bestowed upon me and is here to bask in its entirety. Beauty.

I look down below me to see the ground I am flying high, high above the ground. Wait..oh hell..I'm falling. I quickly yanked out my sword to fight against the air to deaden the fall. The air is tearing into my skin. I feel the air battening my face and body. The gunshots are going off. I seem to be slowing down but the ship is right below me. I put my sword in my hilt and I opened my arms out, like a bird. I am now one with the sky, flying in grace. The ship is now right below me. I remember my landing sequence, PIERCE, SLASH AND COVER!

Chapter Three: Tenebris Primrose and Leon, The Mysterious Allies

I slammed the top of the ship, jabbing my sword in the side of the ship. I looked up and noticed a gigantic gash roughly fifteen feet long. I think I used my sword to halt my fall, but I hope that I didn't hit any important components in the ship. I quickly get up and look down to see there is no crowd of people below the ship. I think I might be early. I hear something go off. A loud whirring sound; I look down to the ground and the ship is taking off. I check to see if I'm out of ammo for my revolvers. My guns are smoking due to the speed I fired the bullets. I pop out the revolver cylinders of my swords and look at the ends of the bullet casings, both guns are empty. Damn it. I really need to get new extended cylinders for this. I'm getting sick of these six shooters, I need at least ten per gun. I flick out the rest of the bullets and begin reloading them. The ship below me takes off with a loud hovering blast, knocking me on my butt and spilling the rest of my bullets everywhere. Thankfully .44 rounds aren't that expensive.

The ship was now airborne…. and I am on the top of it. Luckly these things don't go all that fast so it's impossible for me to be blown off. I have to find a way to get inside…..but how? I peek over the side of the stern and I see a ledge to the third floor where the dining room was located. . Maybe I can meet up with Leon on the ship; probably grab a bite with him. He rides the same ship as me. I stab my sword into the side of the ship to hang off and grab the ledge to the third swords were heavy enough to when they stabbed into the side, there was no chance that my body weight would pull them out. I deactivated the gravity and turned on zero-gravity to slowly inch my way down the side of the dirigible. The ledge is just big enough for my feet. I step down and pull my swords out of the side of the ship. I transform the swords back to revolvers and I sheathe them back to my holster. I look to the bottom of me and I only see dark blue, the ocean. I can't swim so I cannot fall. I will die. I can feel the chills on my back, as if the wind itself is trying to pry me off the ship. I squeeze tightly onto my sword. It is the only thing that is in the way of me having breakfast and me being eaten by sharks; even though it is more or less a big lake. Sharks do not live in big lakes due to the water temperature. I look in front of me and the ship is lined with large glass windows that accommodate the dining tables. I peek into the windows and I see the entire dining area.

There is a square food court in the middle and the rest of the floor is tables. The booths are all around the perimeter of the ship. The rest of the space is normal tables. The lame tables… and chairs. The normie chairs. I look down at the booth in front of me and there seems to be a group of four girls looking surprised at the guy outside the window. I feel cold all of a sudden because I think I embarrassed myself in front of these beautiful girls. That's the one thing I'm just goddamn terrified of. Is talking or interacting with girls. I'm always scared that I'll embarrass myself by accident and they'll think I'm weird. I recoup my feelings and I pound softly on the window and they look for the latch to open it. The four girls look about the same. One has red hair, another has orange, the third one has brown hair and the other has black hair. Like mine. They are all wearing the standard Beacon Academy uniforms. Dark brown suit jacket, white dress shirt under a red and green plaid skirt. (Boys wear dark brown suit pants) I'm not wearing mine so I feel a little bit embarrassed about that. The black haired one finds the latch and opens it up.

I look down at the table to see if I don't step on their food or drinks. There is nothing there yet (They might be waiting for their order) so I step calmly across the table and land on the hardwood floor. All four of them are looking at me in sheer disbelief. My head goes cold and I am absolutely terrified. I will use all of my strength to bow.

"Seraek Branwen" I duck down and I say in slight confidence. There's a slight pause, about five seconds. "At your s-s-s-s." I keep stuttering.

Then the red haired one sighs and says, " Service?"

I immediately jolted up and quickly stammered out "Y-y-yes."

The Brown haired and Black haired ones start to giggle. I feel embarrassed but I feel happy that I made them smile. I try to come up with a way to excuse myself for startling the nice girls. "Shall I order you guys anything?" I ask. "No thanks." said the red haired one. "You don't look like the waiter type."

I quickly reach into my pocket and pull out a money card with 10,000 lien on it. "Here." I said. "Take this as a token of gratitude." as I gave it to the red haired one.

She takes the card and opens something on her scroll and she presses the card on her screen. "Card number identification please!" The scroll announces. "Are you sure about this?" She asked. "Yeah, It's fine." I say. "The number is 0173." She taps on the screen the corresponding numbers and a little notification box comes up on her screen. "Ten Thousand Lien has been transferred to your account!" The scroll announces. All four of them immediately look in utter shock at the scroll. They all then look at me and the red one puts her scroll away in her pocket.

"Hey Rydia, can you scoot over for this nice man?" The red haired girl immediately moves to her right, squishing the brown haired one closer to the window, leaving me more than enough space for me to sit down. I reluctantly sit next to these nice girls. I immediately stick out my hand for the red haired one to shake. She stared at my hand for a second before begrudgingly grabbing a hold of it. Her hand feels cold in the shake. I decided to say nothing about it. I noticed that the little brown haired girl smooshed against the window seemed upset about something. Her face looked gloomy as if she was rejected from a job or crush. I can understand how she feels being squished by a thicker girl and a skinny dipshit who came in through a window. The red haired one clears her throat and

"Why did you give us all that money? Are you like, really rich or something?" The red haired one asks. "I just felt like it." I replied. "I'm sorry if I didn't tell you my name. It's Ser-"

"I know, you told us not two minutes ago." The red one cut in. "There's no need to be nervous." I immediately blush in embarrassment.

"Sorry." I reply peevishly.

She pulls her long red hair back, "Hello, Seraek." she says in positivity. "I'm sorry if I scared you, me and the girls were shocked to see you outside the ship." "My name's Bashiama and these lovely divas are Rydia, Gabrijela and Dianca." "We are team B.R.G.D. (Burgundy)"

"Huh, I don't think I've heard of team Burgundy." I say, trying to make some small talk. "You guys transfering from another school?''

"No, we're coming from Signal and we hope to be in the same team together. All of us are inseparable since we all met." Bashima replies.

I remember my second day of Beacon on landing strategy day. I remember when I found Callisto. She accidentally stabbed me in the leg because she thought that I was a Grimm. I remember when I didn't scream in pain, she thought I was immortal. Then I screamed after ten seconds when the pain set in and it scared her. She had to yank her knife out of my leg and it was one of the most odd experiences in my life. The short life I've had.

"Well, I have a bit of bad news for you l-l-l-lovely ladies." I reply peckishly. "On the second day of Beacon you guys are kind of thrown into a forest and whoever makes visual contact with you is on your team."

All four girls look at themselves in gloom. "Well, that's a shame. Sorry girls." All four all sigh.

"Are you guys in sync with everything you do?" I ask playfully.

"I guess so." Bashima replies.

"So have you guys made any new friends yet?"

"No, we all have each other. We don't need any more people on the team." She replies, then giggles and inhales. "We will try to at least make the best of it. Maybe we will be together. We're basically sisters." Bashiama states while staring at the black haired one. "Isn't that right….Dianca."

She stares vindictively at the black haired girl one, Dianca, who's eyes shoot up and she wrings out a nervous smile and nods her head up and down rapidly.

"Good!" Bashima exclaims.

I look over to Bashima and notice that her eyes are glowing red. Like mine when I'm pissed. I think that this might be some kind of creepy peer pressure thing that I personally am a bit nervous by. I need to break the mood and help this poor girl out.

"Um, What's wrong?" I say nervously.

There is no response and I begin to feel more uneasy due to the color change in Bashima's eyes. "What are you doing to her?!" I exclaim

"Leave me, retard. I need to speak with my associate here. You're not worth our time." My heart sank and I slowly walked away.

My stomach felt like it was stabbed, tied up in knots and I felt sick. Also, I just gave her team like ten thousand bucks, what is her goddamn problem? Damn it, why are people like this? I need to throw up. I ran to the nearest trash can and tried to barf but nothing came out. I guess that oat toast digested pretty quickly. My eyes are dripping with gagging tears and my face is beet red. There are people that are looking at me whilst I'm gagging by a trash can. They all seem to be staring at me. I know seeing a dude barf isn't a sight for sore eyes but why do you need to stop and stare at him instead of asking the lad if he's okay? Whatever, screw 'em'. Maybe I was too loud. Now that I think about it I guess I was a bit rude. (Note to self, be more quiet. No that's impossible, fuck it.)

As I walked over to the other booth, I took a look at the food court in the middle of the floor. There were four small restaurants at each corner of the square court. Neo's Noodles, Chiappa's, Marvin's Hour, and Betty's Breakfast.

Each one had their own bar stools to sit in but everyone sat in one. There was no line to any of them. I guess I missed the breakfast rush. I decided to head to Marvin's Hour since they have those wings I like, "The Hellfire Hot Ones." Apparently, they are the hottest wings on the menu and no one can seem to handle them. Every once in a while they might use them in a contest for people who can't take it. I walked around to the other side of the court and I peered over to where Marvin's Hour is. There is absolutely no one sitting there at the bar.

Ok, I'll just get my food and head over to Leo and just be done with it. I sprinted to the bar and slammed my hands down on the counter, my head facing down.

" I demand delicious wings! I demand sustenance!" I shout obnoxiously.

Looking up, I see a robot in front of me hastily built seemingly out of scrap metal spray painted yellow. Oh, I guess they're having the restaurant's mascot serve for me today. The robot seems to be made out of car parts because his head almost looks like a small engine from a motorcycle and his arms look like steering columns. It has a black smiley face spray-painted on it and it doesn't seem that it can speak.

It also has a white apron on a name tag that says. "Hi, my name is Marvin. How may I help you?"

"I need the Hellfire Hot Ones." I said.

The robot starts to beep in some type of morse code. It dashes to the back and brings out a plate of twelve red painted wings. They are steaming hot as if they had just come out of the grill. He sets the plate in front of me and a little glass of milk.

"That will be $15 lien, sir!" Marvin replies.

He has his hand out with some kind of QR code on it for me to wave my scroll on it. I opened the application for payment and I gave him 1000 bucks.

"Payment received!" Announced Marvin. "Would you like cashback?"

"No," I reply.

It then dashes away from the counter into the kitchen. I grab the wings off the counter and I start looking around for Leon at the tables. There are a lot more people than I remember here in the first place. The number seems to have exponentially increased. I weaved through all of the people to see if there was a booth or table with a tall, buff guy. Then a huge force grabs against my neck as if someone were grabbing my shirt. I then am back on my feet and I turn around trying to get a good look at the person who yanked me back.

"Hey, hey watch the wings, dickhead!" I yell at the guy pulling my shirt. I turn around and I see who I was looking for.

There he was. Leon was looking at me like he was bored with something. That look where you feel nothing, just indifference, that is what he looked like. He had very long bright brown hair that looked like shaved wood. He had a type of old rock band haircut that looked like he had a mullet of sorts with his sideburns shaved off. His complexion was very pale; he looked almost like a ghost who came out of a chalk factory. He was also very big. Not that he was fat, he was muscular as hell. Probably stronger than me. He's about 6'8' he basically towered over everybody on the team, let alone the whole school. He made us look like midgets and I'm convinced that he has biceps on his buttcheeks. Honestly, the guy's strength is freaking' insane. He scared the living hell out of this guy by accidentally flipping his car over when he leaned up against it. I heard that he competed in weight lifting competitions and he would win every single time. I wait until school starts so I can see him in the weight room. I can't bench more than 170 pounds. I can squat like 350 but that's about it. He was already wearing his Beacon uniform but he had on grey slate high tops. Like me. He escorted me to his booth by the far corner, with both of his hands on my shoulders. It was just a normal rectangle table with emerald plating on the top. The seats were made of fine cedar and there were the normal salt and pepper shakers and the hot sauce bottle.(That's my favorite bottle) There's also a pen holder that I think is for signing the checks for people who don't have a pen. He quickly plopped into his seat and so did I.

"So…..how ya doing Leo." I said."I missed that Jensen raid because I was busy last night. Please don't hurt me."

He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a little black booklet with lined paper. He begins to scribble his writings to me and then rips out the message and slips it over to me. "You weren't needed. I figured Aqua would have been a bit more laid back about your participation so I told him you were sick. You owe me."

Leon cannot speak at all. I think he's mute or something so the only way I can understand what he is saying to me is either through sign language or notes that he writes to me. I have no idea where he came from. He just kind of showed up on the Beacon Applicant List. I think he might have came from Atlas. All I know is that he was in the same bounty hunting guild as I was. He pulls out a small notebook the size of a scroll. He also gets out a pen and begins to write something.

"Did you get my letter ?" He writes. "Yeah" I replied.

"What is the deal with this Kaliah lady? You know how I am around new people. Especially if it is a girl. How the hell is she credible?"

"Don't get so attentive, Seraek. I think she might be a great addition to the team. I've seen her in the Vytal competition tryouts for Beacon. Her combat prowess is unlike anything I have seen before. She is like no other huntress I've seen in awhile."

Blinded by confusion I ask "What's so damn special about Scissors or something?

"Her name is Cyzra (Siz-rah) and the reason why is that she completed the course for the festival in 53 seconds."

Wait..the par for the course is like three minutes. The fastest was like one minute and thirty-seven seconds. She was able to do it in 53? Hell, I completed it in one minute and 57 seconds. That sounds impossible.

"Leo, are you bullshitting me or something?" I ask in determination.

"No. I've never lied to you before ...or did I?" He replies.

"Oh ha, ha. For real, tell me how long was her time?"

"Ok, she did it in like one fifty nine. Is that better?" He replies back.

"Leo, c'mon you big dummy, there's no need to bullcrap me. I'm the calmest person on the planet."

He grins and scribbles on paper. "You sure about that? I just saw you vomiting out around those girls, liar." There's a smiley face drawn on the page.

"Oh, blow me Leo, every girl here is goddamn terrified of you. Hell, most people are terrified of you, but not me though."

His expression shifted from a bored look to a smirk of shit eating degree. "Were you scared of those girls? If you are, how can you be in my presence? Frankly , It sounds like you are hiding something. I, at least, think you are trying to compensate for something." I could just tell from him shifting his face; he really was digging into my skin, a little too deeply, I'm afraid.

"Hehe. When it comes to small talk for me, no dice. That's my star stricken weakness and a…."

I noticed that Leon's gaze then suddenly became a lot more fixated on me as if he were trying to beat me in a staring stares at me with an intensely blank expression for a good ten seconds. I start to get worried after a minute. "Dude, you okay?" I ask. No answer. This happens often for some reason. I think that he just stares off for no reason and he, like, shuts down. I straighten my hand in the form of a slap and backhand him in the face as hard as I can. *CRACK* My hand is in utter pain, it felt like I just slapped a solid piece of rock. My hand is numb and red. I look up at Leon and he is still is a slight imprint where my hand hit his face. I got an idea for a prank. I go over to the pen holder and write "Penis"on his forehead. "Hehe. I guess when you talk to me you have no dice." I laugh while snickering. He then shoots back up and slams the table and it crumbles beneath his hands.

"Jeez Leon, what the hell dude?!" I yell.

He looks like he is confused and he rips out another piece of paper and scribbles. "How long was I out?"

"You were out for like a couple minutes." I said still wiping the wood splinters off of my pants. He puts his head in his hands for a few seconds.

"You okay bro?" I ask.

"Yes"

"You weren't knocked out at all, your eyes were wide open." I said. "Are your bones made out of rock?"

"Nah, just power." He writes back jokingly.

"You destroyed my wings by the way."

"I'll get you a new plate you big baby." He writes. "I'll be back in a minute."

I watch him walk into the not so crowded dining area to Marvin's. Looking at him from here, just makes the guy look like a monster. I get up to look for a fresh table to sit at and there is an open booth behind me, so I decide to sit down here. I pull out my scroll to see if I got any new texts. I look at my notifications to see if anyone said anything to me. My scroll says there has been one message and it's from my other teammate Tenebris.

Tenebris: "Hya Seraek, what's crackin'?"

Seraek: "Nothin, me and Leo r having some wings for the breaking of the fast. What chu' up to?"

Tenebris: "Uhh, look to your right for me plz."

Seraek: "Ok,".

I look over to the right and I see an amber-skinned girl's face in a creepy smile pressed up against the window. A giant toothy and wide eyed grin with her right yellow eye, eyepatch on left, and long layered silver/grey hair.

"Nice try Primm." She immediately goes back to a normal smile and she puts her scroll to her face to text another message.

"Can u let m3 in, it's sort of cold out here."

I put my scroll back in my jacket pocket and I released the latch to the window. It seems the wind kicked up a little because there was a small gust of wind that hit me in the face. She outstretches her right hand for me to grab and pull her in. I yank her inside to the booth and she falls onto me and we both fall onto the floor and she's sitting on my chest. My chest is being slightly crushed by her, at this point I'm gasping for air.

"Primm, can you get off of me please, you're killing me." I say wheezing.

"You calling me fat, friend?" She says playfully while standing up. She sticks out her hand to pull me up,

"Nah, if anyone's fat around here, it's me." I say to her while she is pulling me up.

"Let me see your chest, night rider." She says to me, I pull up my shirt and she looks amused and snickers.

"What's so funny?" I ask.

"Are you anorexic or something because you are one skinny looking bastard." She says while laughing.

"You are one thick looking lady, madame." I say while sneering. She playfully punches me in the crotch.``You're such a tard, truer words have never been spoken. I have been working on my figure, after all." She added while posing flamboyantly.

My nuts did feel pretty numb after that punch so I broke down and held myself..

"Here, have a seat." I said whilst grunting. I walk to my last sitting spot and Tenebris immediately zips to where I sat.

"Find another seat, madame." She replies sarcastically. I sit in the seat across from her. "

Can you stop calling me Sera? It's kind of getting old." I say annoyed.

" Stop being such a baby. I can see your face getting red, Sera, I think you're a little sick buddy." She retorts with a little giggle. I blush in embarrassment but I think I can give her a come back. I mean she's not wrong about me being sick.

"Hey I like girls and so do you. I tried to finesse my charismatic skills and I ended up with a retracted ballsack and a bad day."

"I saw that when I was waiting outside for you. You really need some work there. I can help you if you want." She offers.

"I think I'll take you up on that one, never."

She takes off her large brown parka and sets it to the side of her seat; revealing a thin yellow jacket with a sports jersey underneath.

"Is your sport is being a bad pickup artist?" I remark.

"Not quite, although it is a very interesting hobby. No, my sport, kitten, is to make sure that you are in line and so far I have not been practicing. It's such a drag, y'know? I forgot to make you go to the Jensen raid"

I slink back into my chair and groan at the ceiling due to how she somehow managed to annoy me. Annoy me with that stupid Jensen raid. Literally, the Jensen raid is this big celebration for PeaceKeeper and I never showed up and received any of my merits. So far, I have been asked by two people in the span of five minutes about that stupid party. Wait...did she call me kitten?

"Did you just call me a pussy?" I ask impatiently. She then lowers her head and rests her chin on the table and looks up at me. "No, my sweet vomit boy. I called you my kitten because you are so cute around the girls!"

"If I'm so cute then why don't you date me?"

"You see Sera, I would love to except I have a little someone of my own." She then shoots a finger at me, pointing directly at me and exclaims, "One bit of advice though. Just because people think you are cute, doesn't mean they like you in that sense. Calling someone cute is more of a compliment rather than a sign of romantic banter."

"Just don't give me hope, ok?"

"Ok, fine I won't hurt your little virgo intacta feelings. I'm sorry I said anything. I just wanted to give you a little advice and you have to act like a big wicky dick." She then pouts in a pathetic way that only a little bat like her could do. Big wide eyes with big pupils.

"We are supposed to be teammates right?" I ask. "After all, a team needs a leader, a virgin leader. A man who has been untapped by the touch of love. Unburdened by romance? A man of focus and willpower?" I state in a fake manly voice.

"You'll still be a bitch boy then." Ten retorted.

"You will just stay a bitch." I replied.

She is lost for words and she immediately starts laughing. Me and Primm have been good friends for the past three months and this is her first year here. We met up at the organization and she wanted me to help her with schooling and such so in a way, I am a tutor to her. I think she originally came from Atlas too, but she doesn't seem like she would be from there. Atlas Academy is super strict when it comes to rules and they only choose the best of the best. I've met other Huntsman and Huntresses from Atlas and honestly I can't stand any of them. They are super stuck up and half the time they don't even seem like human beings. I think Qrow told me that it's less of a Huntsman academy and more of a military school. The students have very limited contact with their families and I hear that faunuses are not respected that much. I can admit one thing; Atlas students don't screw around with fighting. They go quick and hard, no person is left behind. Tenebris is some kind of bat faunus due to her always black shaded eyes,grey hair and tiny black ears she has hidden in her hair. I figured that she would be treated like shit considering where she lived but, she was more or less ignored rather than harassed, I guess. Honestly, I think that being harassed is better because there are people that will go out of their way to be an asshole and give you attention to you rather than hide and talk smack about you behind your back.

Prim is still laughing for some reason, jeez, she's worse than I am when it comes to hysterically laughing. If I told her dad joke she'd probably die of a stroke. I look at her amber-skinned face and I notice the eye-patch again. To this day I could never figure out how she got it. She never wants to talk about it, but I remember she said she didn't get it in a fight. It was an "accident", is what she would tell us. She stops laughing for probably a good thirty seconds and she has her head in her hands, still giggling.

"Where's Leon?" She asks, still catching her breath."I need to tell him I need to use the ladies room."

"I dunno. He said he was going to get some wings for me." I replied. "He's been gone for like five minutes, I don't know where he is." 'Let's go look for him." She replies while standing up. "C'mon". I get up and walk behind her. "I think we should just wait a little bit longer, maybe there's a long line." I state. Tenebris tugs on my arm,"I want to see him, he is so hot." "I thought you liked girls." I retorted. "Oh shut up, loverboy, do you know where he went?" She asked. "Yeah, he was heading for Marvin's." I say. We walk further to the stand and we hear some shouting from a large group of people. There is a huge mosh pit of people over by where Marvin's is. "C'mon Seraek!" Tenebris shouts. "I think that's Leo over there!"

We run over to the crowd of clamoring people and we push through the group of people and we see a circle of Leo standing still facing away from a guy dressed from head to toe in black and some darkish blue color. He was wearing a cloth mask that covered half his face, and he was walking around like Qrow after work. That means he was drunk off his ass. I could smell the whisky from where I was standing. No, it smelled more like gin. I pushed through the rest of the crowd and started feeling all the blood in my body rush up to my head. "Why don't you walk into a landfill and get crushed you fucking clanker. You're nothing but a waste of space and a handful of trash." said the bully whilst slurring. "C'mon Zero snap out of it and come with me, you're causing a scene." said a girl who was pulling his arm away from Leo. HEY ASSHOLE! I started screaming at him and I had everyone's attention. "Who in the hell are you?" "That all depends on your next action. You can either walk away or you can keep screwing with my friend and I'll be your worst FUCKING nightmare!" I thought I had said enough to get him to run off, but he just started laughing. "Ain't that just the cutest thing I've ever seen." he said while laughing. "L-l-listen. I'll let you have a freebie for today, you caught me in a good mood, I'll humor you."

I don't know where this asshat is trying to get at and quite frankly. I stand menacingly away from him and clench my teeth in anger, I try to think of something that will calm me down. "What the hell are you doing? You look like you are about to shit yourself." He instigates. I think of simple stuff like cute huskies and fruit. I hear the cute little yaps of husky puppies, but it's not working. Hmm, maybe I'll think of a hot maid trying to do my laundry. "Oops, master, I dropped the detergent. I'll pick it up." I hear in my head.

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID WHORE!" I scream at my imaginary maid. It's not working. I hear a faint echo leaving my mouth, meaning that I just screamed that at this guy with the sound of a thousand amps. He turns around and smiles widely. "A whore, you say. ." He replies snidely. My body begins to feel really cold, and my eyes begin to hurt and they feel like they are burning. Tenebris grabs my shoulder and looks at me in a scared expression. Eyes look like a deer caught in headlights, "Seraek, your eyes. They're glowing white." "Tenebris, leave me the hell alone. I got this." I say sternly,

"Oh, what's the bother? Having your stupid bint put you on a leash? If you want to kill me, then do it."

My eyes ease off with the pain and I feel a little bit better. My muscles still shaking due to the amount of rage-induced adrenaline building in my body. I slowly reach into my jacket pocket to grab hold of one of my revolvers. "Seraek, your eyes. They're white. Don't kill him."Tenebris begged. "Oh, I won't. I'm just gonna crush his goddamn skull!".

I unleash my revolver and rapidly fire three shots and then my revolver clicks. My gun ran out of ammo , FUCK! . The cracking of the shots force the audience to start screaming and run away from me and the drunkard here. He seemingly was able to dodge all three of them. "Didn't your parents ever tell you to not point guns at people?" "SHUT UP!" I scream. I dash towards him, transform my sword and leave the other into a pistol. He raises up his hands and draws a bat out of his coat. I point my sword towards his middle and he ducks; slamming the bat into my guts. I fall back, feeling the burning pain in my stomach. I fall back and he kicks me in the head; flying back towards where I started. My backs against the floor and I pull my revolver back out to aim.

My vision is a little bit blurry and I am seeing two of everything. I aim again towards him and he seemingly teleports back to me and kicks the gun out of my hands and steps on my chest. He stoically stands upon me and squats down towards my face. "Now you know how issss it feels to mee." he slurs while a bit of drool comes down and splatters on my face. "You have lost what I have gained"

For all the times I have been beaten in my life and all of my few victories, I am not having another loss. This bastard had to mess with my friend and has the gall to taunt me in front of this crowd. This son of a bitch is going to pay. My eyes began to burn even hotter, feeling like someone is jamming two cow brands into my eyes. My body begins to feel hotter, but calm at the same time. I feel good….I actually feel like I can conquer the world, by conquering the world I'll start with kicking this guy's ass. I begin to scream, hoping to release some of the heat out of my body.

The guy stares down at me and immediately looks distraught and confused. "What in the hell?" he exclaims. I rip into my coat and pull out the other revolver and shoot him in the arm. The bullet just barely grazed his skin causing it to start bleeding. "Ah! You bastard!" he screams. I leap upright and he swings down with the bat and I sense that he is doing it. I grab onto the bat and with no effort; yank it out of his hands. "GIVE THAT BACK, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" "No." I replied snidely. I drill him in the head with the bat and he has enough stamina to attempt to roll tackle me. I feel a hum vibrating down my spine and I see that he has slowed down. Everything slowed down. The crowd, Leon, Tenebris and the guy are all in some kind of stasis. I roll behind him, his back exposed and I slam the bat into his back, sending him flying into a counter. The slowing stopped and the crowd was screaming. "How did he do that!? He just teleported!" The crowd screams among other things. I stare back at the guy and he is bent over the counter, throwing for something to grab onto. I stalk over to him and I grab a bottle from off the table; dropping the bat as I make my way back to him, I slam the bottle into the back of his head, shattering the bottle and slicing out some of his hair. I clutch onto his hair and with no effort throw his whole body down the countertop. He glides down and smashes plates and glasses against his face and fumbles off of the top, knocking over a couple of bar stools . He leaps up with a knife in his hands and instantly cuts my arm and my chest. The cut was right at my collarbone and just missed my throat.

The cut burns on my skin and blood seeps out and I can see the blood slowly dripping out of my wounds.

He runs to his bat and grabs it. "Now itsssss on now, bitchh." he slurs. His face speckled with cuts and tiny pieces of glass, is seething of rage and the bat comes down and he misses me. I flick out my sword and slice at his arm and instead of cutting it off, I manage to cut into his hand pretty bad. . He screams and heaves up and rapidly slams his bat against the floor, with blood spraying out of his attempts to hit me again and I bolley kick him in the face. He falls to the floor and I grab him by the throat and I stare at his ground up face. "Don't fuck with me again, I will make sure to kill you nexttime.." I say while gnashing my teeth. "Don't worry because next time, you won't asshole." He says while laughing coarsely. "I'll be sure to find a way to ruin your life." I lift him up by his throat and slam his face into a wall, shattering the drywall.

Out of the crowd a girl walks towards me and grabs the guy.

. Everyone gasped except for him. Now he is either too drunk to feel pain or he's just a complete psycho, but he just kept on laughing until he passed out. "He's alright he'll wake up in time for class and if not I'm sure he'll wake up eventually. Thank you for that by the way." The girl said. "You're thanking me for breaking his arm?" Trust me he has had worse happen to him. I'm Aria Emberia." "Fuck you." I replied to her. "Take your drunkard and go fuck a cactus." Her kind look then immediately changes to a look of anger and dismay. She then says nothing and spits at my shoes and looks over her recently beaten boyfriend. I then look to the crowd that has been congregating around us. They are all still standing in a circle looking at me. Annoyed by this, I had to understand what they were thinking. If your teammate was being screwed with would you just stand there? "What's the matter?" I ask the crowd. "Standing there like a bunch of morons and watching a guy being bullied? The hell's wrong with you people?" I go over to Leon and he's sitting down by a nearby table, food still splattered all over him. Me and Primm walk to him and both of us are worried. "Leo, what happened back there?" I ask him. He grabs out his notebook and scribbles words onto it. "It's nothing. He was just being angry. I think he was drunk because he had a flask of vodka with him and by the way he was walking." Knowing how Leon is more of less kind of a passive guy, I don't know why he just let that guy harass him. "Why didn't you do anything, dude?" I ask him. "I thought that if I hit him, I would kill him." He scribbles.

Honestly, understandable considering how strong Leon is. Primm, twiddling her fingers, looks up to me. She looks sad for some reason. "What's wrong, Primm?" I ask her. She sighs and looks down and says, "Nothing. I just wish you wouldn't go nuts like you did back there." "Well, I'm sorry that I stick up for my teammates and not just stand there with a hard-on." I replied angrily. "I know." She replies. "Sorry, if I yelled at you Primm." I said back calmly. "Let's just enjoy the ride while we can." I said to both of them. I stick my hand out for a fist bump for all of us. Leon and Tenebris join in. We all fist bump. "Hey guys want some wings?" I ask. Primm smiles and looks over to Leon. "Hey, Leo. You uuhh.. got something on your forehead." He raises his hand and rubs his forehead and a smudge of black marker rubs off on his hand. The "Under Repairs'' sign on his head is now all smudged up and is completely incomprehensible. Leon looks at me and raises his arms to speak. "Who did this?" He asks. My head goes cold and I reply with, "I don't know." Close one. Tenebris reaches into her jacket and pulls out a handkerchief and wipes the smudge off of Leon's face, smirking at him. Leon shoots a quick smile and then it goes away. "Hey fellas, wanna get a table?" I ask.

Chapter Four: Welcome to Beacon

To be honest, I hate landing in these ships. On the outside they look pretty smooth when they dock at the school. They're not. They have this like insane turbulence that feels like you are being jerked downwards. Like someone is yanking your guts out of your stomach. I wasn't the only one affected by this, Tenebris was sick too. She started retching near the trash cans when the ship finally docked. Leon as usual was not affected by this. Just standing there with that big dumb blank look. I wonder what the other kids are thinking of when it stops. Maybe there might just be people who have strong stomachs and/or brains. Maybe there are some peeps who are just annoyed that there are some other kids throwing up for frivolous things. Maybe that's just me. Usually right about now there is a hologram of Glynda that plays over. Right about…...now. The hologram of Professor Goodwitch appears. Right on time. "Hello and welcome to Beacon!" Glynda says cheerfully. I sigh quietly.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch.(Cool) You are among the privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy.(You sure?) Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsmen and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it.(Is it now?) You have demonstrated courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world. Welcome to Beacon."(You need to do a better job there buckaroo.)

The hologram ends and the P.A. comes on. "Attention all students, we will be docking in exactly five minutes, have a great day and welcome to Beacon Academy." I wonder how long that recording of Glynda has been on these ships. She looks almost like she's in her mid to late twenties in that hologram. She's about 34 I think so it might be about five years ago. Jeez, when are they going to update that? If I were her I would honestly find that a little bit unflattering. Leon and Tenebris are standing on opposite sides of me staring outside the large paned windows to see the island that Beacon lies. "About goddamn time." Primm said annoyingly. " I know right?" I replied. " Let's just deal with this new year again." Primm looking confused looks at me and asks, "This is your second year and this is me and Leon's first. I'm worried if we're not going to be on the same team. I don't think that Ozpin's going to play favorites on this one. Hell, I barely know Ozpin, I don't even know what he looks like!" She starts to hyperventilate. I calm her down by putting my hand on her back. "Primm, chill out. I'm here for you guys. I think I can try to silver tongue Ozpin for you. He's known me for three years, he should be like putty in my hands." She sighs in relief and leans up against the wall. A little ringing sound goes off, signaling that the ship has landed. "Attention students! Please report to the first floor exits and walk outside in an orderly fashion." Everyone clamors to the doors and they all walk out completely in droves, ignoring what the guy on the P.A. said. Me, Leon and Tenebris walk out together and we make sure that we have all of our stuff with us. Our weapons and scrolls and the necessary stuff that we need to take to our dorms later on today. We all exit the ship and there it is. Beacon Academy.

To be honest, as much as I hate this school, I don't mind the atmosphere here. It's kind of like a huge castle that everyone gets to live in. I have no idea what the circular pillars are for though. There's two rows of them and I have no idea what their use is. Maybe for just architectural reasons or maybe it offers protection from magic space laser cannons or something. In the center there's the gates to the building and in the center tower is where Ozpin's office is. I guess he loves his god complex by sitting up there. Real ego-stroking. I wish I were him. I could lord over a bunch of students and be looked at as cool and smart. Not to be shat on by others. I mean who wouldn't want that? I'm sure a guy would say no. Me, Leon and Tenebris make our way down the courtyard to the center of the academy. The staff calls it The Citadel because it's where all of the important stuff happens. Like all of Ozpin's speeches or team assignments.

Tenebris is staring down at the ground and I hear her slightly sobbing with her hands on her eyes. "Primm, calm down." I told her. "I honestly was worse than you when I first came here. When I got here, I vomited right in front of Glynda. I was both excited and scared out of my mind to see a real huntress. You're fine, lady." I say while smiling. She sniffles a little bit and nods. I look over to Leon and he's just looking straight towards the school. I notice there is almost no emotion in his face. Just nothing. I wave my hand in his face to get his attention to break the evil curse of indifference on his face. He looks at me and he contorts his hands speaking to me in sign language. I had to also learn sign language to communicate with Leon. I don't really remember who taught me. I sort of just know how the language works. . That's how I got to know him well. I can't stand him not because of how he teaches. He's a great teacher and all but It always seems like he's hiding something. I dunno, it just irks me. "What is it?" Leon asks while contorting his hands. "I was just making sure you weren't in a coma again." I replied. He stares at me blankly for a second and looks towards the school again. He gives me a thumbs up. I look back to the school to see a sea of other students walking to school. All of them looked in awe at the magnificent architecture.

As we approach the school, there is a set of large wooden doors that tower over everyone. They have to be at least fifty feet tall which is a little unnecessary. I mean does he expect giants to come here? Yes, having giants as huntsmen would just be unfair but I wouldn't mind setting up with one. Sadly, they're not real.. There is a hall that leads to a giant circle shaped platform that all of the students stand on. There is an altar that Oz usually stands on to announce some jank. Everyone is clamoring around and I can hear distant conversations about hair extensions, periods, comics, guns, flame swords, video games, Etruscan ceramics and all kinds of normal teenage stuff. We stand around for what seems like hours and we are surrounded by people. All of which seem like they are looking for something to talk about whilst waiting. I could remember how I was when I waited to hear Ozpin's welcoming speech. He does this once a year, pretty much as a compulsory requirement for him being headmaster. I was absolutely terrified; No words could describe how scared I was. I wanted to just break down and cry in the crowd and I was pretty close too. Thankfully, Callisto was there to comfort me. I then felt a sudden wish of unease as if something was wrong. I look over to Leon to see how he is doing.

Leon just stands still for the whole time and he doesn't say a word, nor clears his throat or coughs or anything. I've only known him for like three months but the whole time I never fully trusted him. He just kind of showed up at the bounty hunting guild and just started hanging out with me. I don't know why but it's nice that someone likes you, in a bro way.. Same with Tenebris, she just kind of showed up at the guild and wanted to do some bounties with me and Leon. She was an early transfer like me. Meaning that she skipped most or all of primary academy. I skipped almost all of Signal and I ended up at Beacon before everyone in my class. Leon and Tenebris just are good to me, for the short time I've known them, is pretty nice.

There has to be at least 10,000 people in this very room and honestly it's getting kind of uncomfortable. I'm not agoraphobic or anything but it doesn't feel right when there are a ton of people all around you. Like there might be a guy ready to pounce and cap your ass. I reach into my jacket and grab onto the handle of my sword, readying for anyone to attack. I look around the sea of heads and I see nothing out of place. I then hear footsteps and everyone grows quiet. I let go of my sword and looked up at the altar. The clamoring became noise, then became cheering. They were cheering for Ozpin. He was coming and it was only a matter of time before he showed up. The footsteps grew louder and so did the cheering. Then he finally came…...Ozpin.

It was just the same old Oz. White hair, rounded glasses, green scarf and all-black coat. He also has a cane for some reason. Supposedly it's a weapon and I can assume it is. Why would a cane have gears inside? It just seems kind of redundant. He also has a cup of coffee in his other hand and he is quietly sipping it, waiting for us to stop talking. After a couple of minutes he cranes his head towards the microphone and coughs as he is clearing his throat. "Good day to all." He announces. "I see that you are all excited to see me and frankly I appreciate the gesture. I stand here and witness a sea of potential. Potential that I cannot bear to express my gratitude for. You have displayed a plethora of courage and dignity to be allowed here at this academy..." Ozpin continues on and on about "abilities'' and "responsibilities" and a whole ton of shit that we all know. I swear this is the same damned speech I heard last year. Does he just have a checklist for what words he wants to say

Potential, check. Courage, check. Responsibilities, check. Jeez, say something that sounds real for once Oz. "...I see those who have potential and those who sadly don't use it." Oz says while looking at me. Uhhhh, I think Oz is talking about me, or he was just coincidentally looking at my direction in the crowd. "We strive to make the most out of everyone and we are more than elated to accommodate. Upper-classmen, your dorms are the same as last year, classes resume tomorrow at exactly 9:00 sharp and I would recommend those who are new to familiarize yourselves with the academy's facilities. We hand out campus maps at the entrance. I wish you all a new year and also today's lunch is chili dogs, they are quite delicious!."

Ozpin finishes. He walks off and exits the altar and everyone begins to disperse. Usually, Glynda is up there with him but for some reason, she isn't. I wonder where she is. Tenebris tugs my arm to get my attention. "What?" I ask. "Is it cool if I go to your dorm? I'll take Leon with me and we'll meet up for lunch. Is that cool, Sera?" She asks. "Well, lunch is in like four hours so that's plenty of time for you to familiarize yourself. Leon should know where most of this stuff is." I reply sparingly. She nods her head in agreement and starts to walk off with Leon. "Hey Leo." I call out. He quickly turns his head. "Take care of Primm, ok?" He gives me a thumbs up and I reply with a thumbs up back. The P.A. immediately screeches on, "Seraek Branwen, please report to Professor Ozpin's office immediately." Goddamn it. What did I do now? I swear I just got here. I think it might have to do with me beating the shit out of that other kid. I bet 100,000 bucks that it is. The rest of the crowd dispersed into the halls. I could hear distant voices saying things about me. "That's the guy who almost killed Zero." It seemed to be some first years who knew that guy. I mean the guy wanted to kill me or at least beat the apple juice piss out of me. I went easy on him and he should be grateful I didn't kill his ass on sight. I could have genuinely killed that guy and acted like if it were nothing. I swear to the gods if that kid is in Ozpin's office, I walk around the giant platform that for some reason has candles on the pillars in a giant room.

I step inside of the main elevator that leads up to his office. The door panels are lined with shiny emerald accents and the plating is made out of shiny-new silver. I press the 34th floor button which is the highest floor and where Ozpin's office is located. Funny thing is that I've never been to Ozpin's office. Yeah, big shocker, for how long I've known Ozpin, I've never been in his office. Supposedly when kids go to his office, that means you're getting kicked out of Beacon. I think that most of the time when you get kicked out that means that not only did you seriously break the rules, you're basically getting castrated from being a huntsman. It's like the worst thing that can happen to you and not only that, you get sent to prison sometimes. Usually, when people go there they either kill someone and/ or seriously hurt someone. What I did back at the ship was a serious breaking of the rules. I mean there's no way I'm getting kicked out; I was defending myself. That asshole was lucky I went easy on him or there would have been a lot more blood.

The same thing happened to Callisto. Callisto and I, for better words, go way back. I mean really way back. Me and her were basically brother and sister but she got kicked out for almost killing some other kid for destroying her*********. It was a gift before Mr. Medigo passed away. She stabbed him like 15 times but miraculously survived. She was old enough to be pressed with criminal charges and she was sent to Somnus Penitentiary for 10 years. No one talks about her and for good reason. That doesn't change the fact that I miss her because I don't think I've spoken to her in like a year. No letters, calls or messenger pigeons, nothing. We both came here from Mistral to learn here and she basically blew it over a watch. I still feel bad for her because that was Mr. Medigo's watch. That thing must have been priceless. Weird considering that I'm not exactly the most enamoring casanova in the world but the fact is that the only two people I remotely trust are girls. Both of which are older than me. The elevator dings, signaling that I've arrived on the 34th floor. I take a deep breath and exhale pretty loudly.

The doors slide open and the first thing I see is a desk about the length of a car. Made from the finest mahogany. Behind it is a large leather rolling chair. It looks kind of comfy from a distance but sadly there is someone already sitting in it. I then see the myth himself Ozpin sitting away looking out to the horizon. The large pane glass windows are at least the size of buses. More than enough glass to see the entire campus and possibly to see the other peninsula where Vale is. I look down at the floor and I see the gargantuan sized gears in the floor that seem to work a clock. Makes sense, there's a clock tower on the top of this thing anyway. I sigh and walk towards the desk and I see Ozpin turn around to look at me. I stop so quickly that my shoes squeak against the floor. He sighs and clears his throat. "Have a seat Mr. Branwen." He says dismayed. My skin starts to become prickly due to stress and I feel really cold. A large numbness washes over my body and I begin to shake. I don't know what's wrong with me. I've never felt like this in a while. I'm genuinely nervous. Nervous as to what is going to happen to me. I slowly sit in the chair and look at my hands. Both are shaking immensely and I cannot control them. I then hear Ozpin clearing his throat to get my attention. I look up and I see a plate of cookies sitting on his desk. That son of a bitch.

"Please Seraek, have one." He says cheerfully. Confused as all hell, I took a cookie and put it in my jacket pocket. He looks at me with admiration and adjusts his glasses to speak. "It's so nice to see you back Seraek. How was your two-year summer?" "Fine." I say skittishly. " I don't think I've ever had a student that had an extended summer. Especially gifted ones like you." "I wouldn't call myself gifted Oz. I would say that I'm just like everyone else." Ozpin sighs and picks up his cup of coffee and takes a sip." Care to have a cup?" Oz asks. "Freshly brewed." I see what he is trying to do here. He wants to comfort me and make me squeal. I ain't falling for it. "Professor Ozpin, I know what you are trying here and it isn't working." I reply in annoyance. "By what kind of act am I doing wrong? I'm just offering you some coffee. You seem tired." He states. "There is no need to be paranoid.I just want to know, what was the altercation that transpired on the transport ship?" He asks.

"Just some guy was being an ass and I wanted to teach him a lesson.'' I replied. Ozpin darts his look towards me with a mouthful of coffee and immediately gulps it down. "A lesson that ended up in a student getting a broken nose and arm. Seraek, you know that there are rules here that apply to not assaulting students when sparring is not permitted. "Professor, look at my arm." I say impatiently while rolling my right sleeve. "What's worse? A broken nose or a missing arm?" Ozpin glances at my arm and is not amused. "You still have your arm." He says cheerfully.

" My face becomes red and hot, putting out the coldness of my arms. I become more mad because if he were to see any security camera footage of me beating the shit out of that guy. He would know that he started the whole ordeal. But wait...no. I started it. I was the one who fired the gun at him. Shit. "Oz, you have security footage of this right?" I ask. "Is he dead?" "No Seraek, far from it. But, that's not what I've called you up here for." "Then what is it?' I ask. "Your recent actions while you've been away are what is bothering me." Oh, shit. He knows about the bounty hunting stuff. Oh man, I am so screwed. How the fuck does he know?

"You applied for Project PeaceKeeper on April 9th, two years ago. Seraek Branwen, you have over a couple dozen bounties claimed. All of which are dead. You have also, the highest score of everyone in the group. I'm impressed Mr. Branwen." Confused and angry still, I shoot my eyes toward his desk. Still saying nothing. "Seraek, do you remember when you were younger? When you had that innocent look in your eyes. I thought that I had a gifted student along with the others, a student that went above the call of duty to become a warrior. Yet he wastes it on killing degenerates for (Clears throat) "easy" pay." "Professor, I've been trying to teach myself how to handle myself in a fight. I've been out in hell for about a year and a half. Saving that city behind the curtains."

"A huntsman protects the innocent and works to keep a level head and end a fight rather than instigate it." Ozpin says stoically. "You chose to do this, Seraek.". Angered by his ignorance I say, " Professor, Isn't that the whole idea of being a huntsman? To save the innocent, smite the evil? Be a protector? You know, be a good person and all that crap? Does the idea of me being a public service to the city where the police are too damn lazy to do their own jobs? I want to help and I think I'm doing my part." I state in anger. "Seraek, relax. Your eyes." He says. "They are red." He sighs and takes another sip of coffee."I don't give a damn about my eyes, Professor!" I snap back at him. "Seraek, calm down." Ozpin retorts. "Seraek, the reason why I know all of this is because I have been watching for a long time." "Professor, I simply want to use the things you've given me and use them." Ozpin takes another sip of coffee and clears his throat. "Seraek.." Ozpin says while standing up from his chair. He walks towards the window to look out upon the campus. "Seraek, come here and look." I stand up and slowly walk to the large paned window. "You see all of those students, Mr. Branwen?" Ozpin asks while pointing to the sea of people out in the courtyard; looking outward towards the sea. "These boys and girls here have worked endlessly to get to this school! Not just anyone can get here Seraek. I let you come here because I knew that deep down you had something that not all students had." "What was that? My acerbic point of view?" I ask. "Seraek enough with the sarcasm. I can understand that you are confused and angry, but anger does not always fix things. You need to be a bit more magnanimous in your foresight." "What the hell does magnanimous mean?" I ask impatiently. "It means to be more forgiving to people. Generosity." Magnanimous, huh? Ok,ok. "It takes more courage to end a fight than start one." I sigh in annoyance, "I did end that fight with that jackass on the ship, does that not count?" "Yes...in a way." "I just want you to understand, a huntsman is not a hero. A huntsman is a protector of everyone and anything that maybe in need of help." "Oz, that is literally the definition of a hero." Ozpin sighs and re- adjusts his glasses. "Seraek, I just want you to know that I do have faith in you. I just don't want you to waste it. You almost remind me of your mother, always angered and quick to the punch."

I reach into my jacket and grab on to my revolver. Gripping the revolver with the hardest grip possible to the point where my knuckles are popping. "WHAT?" I shout while clenching my teeth.. Ozpin clears his throat again and lowers his head still looking out the window. "Let go of your weapon Seraek. Know that I have much more experience, I will not hesitate to retaliate against you. Keep in mind that you may be gifted, but you are not a prodigy. I don't wish to start a fight and I'm sorry if I offended you."Ozpin apologizes. "You better be goddamned sorry, Oz." I reply back, ripping my hand away from my weapon. "Seraek, I deeply apologize for what I said. I was nervous it was a touchy subject still. Things just can't be undone." I want to know more about her. My only goal in life is to see her again. "You were friends, right?'' I ask. "Yes, she was actually nicer than she used to be. At least when I last saw her. She was pregnant after she graduated and I'm assuming it was you. Running around with that man from Shade." My face shoots up to Ozpin. "Who was the man from Shade? Is he my dad?" "I'm not sure what his name was but I think I heard her call him Kaz at one point. It could mean Kazuhira or Kazuto. I wish I could tell you who he was." My face begins to feel swollen, like I'm about to cry. Shut up, shut up, don't cry you little bitch, keep a level head and shut the hell up. "I've never dealt with something like this before. I barely remember my family. That is why I wish to see you succeed." "What?" I ask. "One thing thing that I wish to teach my students is that emotional weakness is something that everyone has. It can be used to hurt someone without using weapons, sometimes worse than shooting or stabbing. You need to know how to cope with this rather than fester it so your enemies cannot use it." My breathing becomes a little bit more heavy and I begin to choke up. "Oz." I say quietly. "What does a huntsman kill? Am I doing this whole thing wrong?" He sighs. "Seraek, A huntsman's job is not to kill. It is to protect. It is to save. We teach those who cannot protect themselves to help the helpless. Not everyone can become a huntsman. That is why I want you to use your gifts to help others, not kill."

I slouch deeper into my chair. He turns around holding his cane, he walks to me and puts his hand on my shoulder. "Seraek, I just want you to keep your temper. Can you do that for me, please?" I begin to sniffle a little bit. "Yes." I reply. "Here, I wanted to give you this." Oz says while handing me a picture. I I hear the elevator ding behind me and I hear the sound of clicking heels. "Oh no." I whisper.

It's Glynda. "Mr. Branwen, how nice to see you again. It would be nicer to see you out of detention!" She exclaims. I stare up at her. Bright blonde hair, glasses, wicked purple cape. I see that she is also wearing a corset with a dress shirt. I say nothing to her and I have another sniffle. "Leave him alone, Glynda. I've dealt with him enough. We were just having a friendly conversation." He replies in confidence. "Leave Seraek, just stay out of trouble." I stand up and my face feels red and my eyes begin to swell with tears. I wipe my eyes and walk to the elevator to go back to my room. I walk inside and press the button for the bottom floor. As the door closes, I hear Glynda say, "Dear God, Ozpin what did you tell the boy?" The doors close and I leave; A slobbering mess.

Chapter Five: The Plan

After about 20 minutes of me crying like a bitch, I walk over to my old dorm room in block 4a. Most of the dorms that we have here are honestly ten times better than my hole. It makes me question the fact that I stayed out of school. If I remember, my room number is 2077. The gray walls in the hallway make me feel a sense of comfort that I can't feel anywhere else but here. It feels safe, that no one is going to come to kill me. Like a giant fancy hotel. I walk down the burgundy carpeted hallway and look down the numbered doors to my room. 2071, 2073, 2075, 2077. 2077 at the end of the hallway.

There's a little window, just high enough for my head to go over the windowsill. I face the south side of the campus and I look over the courtyard and notice all of the other kids making their way to their rooms. I hear some people talking as they are coming down the hallway. I remember that my eyes are all red from crying and I swing open the door and slam it behind me. I open my eyes and see what I longed for for two years. Four nicely made beds that made me want to sleep. All were laid next to each other. (Although, I think bunks would be better.) I think these were all king sized beds that could easily fit three people.

Many rock band posters lying around from my last team that I was on. I remember my first ever team that I was on. I remember that Callisto was really into rock music to the point where she would listen to it in her sleep. I personally like it, it's just that she would blare it all the time on her scroll. Team Crystal (C.Y.S.L) We weren't exactly the best of friends, except for me and Callisto. The two other guys were Yngslaive and Liang. They were kind of dicks to us because we were younger. I hadn't hit my growth spurt yet and I was like 5'1' back then. Callisto had already matured faster than me and she looked way older than me. She was about 17 and I was 14. I was pushed around by them and I kind of just ignored it. They just were being normal old guys. Maybe they were just giving me shit because they could; I mean I did the same stuff to the other first years. (We all did.) Word is after Callisto got expelled and I dropped out; they supposedly quit and joined the Atlesian Army. Even though I and Cal hated them, I kind of miss them. I breathe in and accidentally inhale a wad of dust. I can't believe that our room hasn't been touched in two years. Everyone else's rooms have been cleaned out but not ours?

There are also four desks that are placed around the room, all are placed facing the wall. None are facing the window. I guess for us to not get too distracted. All are covered in dust, there are four chairs, one for each desk. Each lined with red-clothed upholstery. All are covered in dust. There is also a semi-book cabinet table where our T.v. is placed on. The remote lay next to the holo-deck. I press the power button to see if the t.v turns on. It switches on and static is displayed. I wonder if my Kiroshi is still here. Kiroshi is the nickname I gave to my game console, connected to the t.v. There are four controllers lying all next to the console. All are black and all have our old names written on them in red permanent marker. I had the more beaten up old one because I wanted the other guys to have the nicer ones. I press the power button and the cartridge for Super Slash Warriors is still put in. Hehe, I remember when we used to play this. I used to annihilate everyone at this. I used to play as some sword nerd named Marth and I wrecked everyone in the surrounding dorms. I look around the cabinet for my old books on martial arts. Panzer Kunst, Jeet Kun Do, Gun Fu, Systema- standard stuff.

Funny considering that all but the Gun Fu is the only one that doesn't focus that much on. I personally am not a fan of hand to hand combat, considering I suck at it very badly. It's not the technique, it's my strength. I look behind me and I see a rolling chair that has a little dust on it. I blow onto the chair and a huge cloud bellows out from the chair. I raise my arms above my head and stretch out my arms to take the load off of my back and to hear it crack as my spine realigns itself. I sit back into my chair and I pull out my scroll to see if Leon or Tenebris texted me. I check my notifications and see that I have one message from Tenebris.

It reads, "Heyy Sera Me and Leon are getting some food for you. Where will you meet us up at?"

"I will be in our dorm room. Block B room 2077."

I put away my scroll and I feel a slight tap of the picture in my pocket. I guess I never took a good look at it so I might as well look at it. I slide the picture out of my pocket and in the picture is a woman. My head begins to screech with a high pitched drone. Ugh, My hands feel cold; as if I lost control of them. I can't feel my fingers as if I dunked them in ice. It's… her. The siren lady in my dreams.) No that can't be possible...that's not….possible. I put my head in my hands and took a few deep breaths before I re-examine the picture one last time. Looking at it,there is a young, slender woman, she looks about my age, maybe a bit older. She's smiling and seems to be enjoying herself. Her long black hair is that of dreams; it reminds me of my hair. (Maybe that's where I get it from.) Her eyes are red, red as the rising sun. Her skin pale as a ghost almost compliments her hair. A yin-yang so to speak. She is leaning back into a hammock of some kind. She has one hand on her forehead and one on her bloated belly. She appears to be pregnant…..oh picture was doing something odd. I kept looking into my hands and the photograph was seemingly flickering on and off. As if it was disappearing in my hands, I attempted to touch the picture, but I couldn't feel anything. I rested the picture in one hand and made a point with my other hand. My hand shakes as I approach the picture with my finger and come in contact with it. Except, my finger phases through the picture as if it was a hologram.

A driving pain came across my head, as if someone were to be playing with a drill in my head. My head felt rattles and my brain felt like it was humming and I knew that something was coming on. I grunt and fall out of my chair and I look up into the ceiling. The ceiling was seemingly pulsating and changing color, albeit slowly. I then kept seeing a flash of orange light. I focused on the light to see if there was anything to see. My arms then feel weak as if there are five-hundred pound weights on them. I tried to see if I could readjust my vision towards the picture, but it was gone….. Before I knew it, I passed out.

"Seraek, Seraek, Seraek….Remember" I can hear someone calling my name. It sounds like a woman of sorts.

"Hello?" I shout into the darkness. "HELLO?"

No answer. I feel a coldness wash over my face as if it is melting off. A bit shoots into my nose and I see light again.

"Seraek! Holy crap, are you ok?" Tenebris yells.

"I'm alright,"

While trying to catch my breath, my eyes immediately darted all around the room, looking if someone was going to attack me. I only see Leon and Tenebris looking at me to see if I am in good condition. My shirt is soaked with what seems to be water and I get a groggy feeling of wetness on my face as if I just got out of a pool. I look over to Tenebris and she has a cup in her hand. She probably got water from the shower room. Leon sticks his arm out to grab me. I reach out my hand for Leon, he grabs my arm and yanks me back to my feet.

"Aye, I can say that was certainly a well deserved headache." I say whilst gasping for air.

"Headache? We thought you were straight up dead, dumbass." Tenebris snapped. "Well, you're ok and I have less to worry about today. Only problem is that I just dunked like a gallon of water on the floor. Janitors are gonna be pissed."

"It's fine. It'll dry up."

I stand up and look for my chair I was sleeping in and I take a seat. I remembered that Leon wanted to let Tenebris in on what his proposal was. We had to get our hands on Cyzra, the new girl.

"Hey Primm, I think Leo wants to tell you something."

Leon's looks shoot over to me and he contorts his hands to say, "What is it?"

"Tell Tenebris about your little scheme." I say out loud.

Leon reaches into his jacket pocket and grabs his notebook and pen. He scribbles for a bit on the paper as if he is writing a novel. "Ok, I'll let you guys in on the plan." It reads. "The plan is that our new friend is a little bit more difficult to attain than we expected. The plan is that we are going to have to steal her."

"Steal her? How does someone steal a person? Are we like kidnapping this poor girl?" Tenebris asks frantically.

"No, we're not going to kidnap her. She is doing this willingly. She needs to get busted out of a loop. In other words we need to steal her from a gangster."
Gangsters, like that's a real threat .

"Who are we going to deal with?"

Leon looks up at me and with a scared look on his face and looks down at the page. He slowly writes. "Red Maelstrom."

My face went cold and I had to take in a deep breath for that one. Red is like the biggest asshole in all of Vale; a very successful one nonetheless. He can snap his fingers and ten men are killed in a minute. I hear he has been running with the police department to not get pinched by the Vale Kingsmen. (The Vale Government) He's basically untouchable when it comes to the law; he could be a good help to my business. A guy like him is someone I don't need to kill, I can make a pretty good chunk of change for both me and my anonymous associates. I can possibly strike up a deal with him to let our new friend go. It's a win-win for both sides.

"Leo, I don't think that we need to kill this guy. He can be a great help to us."

"What do you mean?" He asks with his hands. "We're stealing one of his forced comfort girls, he'll be mad no matter what deal we strike up with him. What makes you think he'll listen to a bunch of kids?"

"I dunno, maybe we can try to blackmail him or something. We can always try to do the diplomatic method."

"What do you mean by diplomatic method?" "

We can try to sneak her out of whatever hole that he has her hung up in. She's a freakin' prostitute, she's probably dumb as shit and possibly won't even notice if we snuck her out."

"Wow, you really are an unbearable asshole. Props to you " Tenebris says"What has gotten into you? She's being forced against this and here you are undermining a girl you never even met. Lighten up a bit."

"I know." I replied. "But, we need to stay focused and we need to keep our minds on surviving instead of some random girl."

"Seraek, do you not hear yourself? This girl is going to be our new teammate and you are being such a dick.

Quit it will you?"

I breathe in and exhale out and I try to reaffirm myself to what I said. "I'm sorry Primm, I admit I was a bit of an ass in the last thirty seconds of my ranting. She probably is the opposite of what I said. My head really hurts and I need to take some meds to ease the pain. Migraines run in my family. My bad, ok?" "That's better." Tenebris says. "Also, if she is here with us, we need to treat her as a teammate. As family." "Remember Seraek, me and Leo have known you for like two months and we may be friends but don't think you can treat your teammates like crap and laugh it off. " She giggles. "It's unsportsmanlike. "Ok, ok, I get it, mom." I replied. I look over to Leon and he is staring at his hand and it looks like his hand is twitching a little bit. "You ok?" "Yeah" he replies with his hands. He pulls out a black scroll and swipes through it and comes up to a picture of a , the sign reads.

"I suspect that on the third floor, she is up there. The workers there have shifts that go from 5am to 8pm and the second is 8pm to 4:30am. We can't go there during the day because we have school. So that means that we need to leave by night and come right back. School starts at 9:30am and ends at 5:00. We have a fifteen hour window to get to the club, extract the target and get back to Beacon in that time frame." Leon writes. Geez he writes really fast. "Keep in mind, If we are caught off campus, we will be kicked out. We need to keep this quick and fast."

"So how in the hell are we going to get there?" I ask. "We're on a goddamn island and we have no way of getting off this rock." "This is where my associate, Garret Barns, comes into play. I told him to arrive here five days from now. We can get settled into school and lower the suspicions of the teachers. They won't suspect a thing." " This seems like a solid plan. Good work Leon, you get a free bullet." I reach into my jacket and pull out one of my revolvers and I turn the safety off. I pop open the cylinder and flick out one .44 round and put it in his hand. He stares at it and clenches his hand and gives me an awkward thumbs up. Tenebris starts to pull out three pieces of paper and hands them to me and Leon. "I got our schedules. We don't seem to be in any classes together sadly. But our lockers are relatively close to each other. Mine is 1181" I look at my schedule and look at my hours.

SERAEK BRANWEN I.D. 7751

Locker #1170

Pass: 277353

Class A Huntsman

Combat Discipline - Glynda Goodwich

Survival and Thriving- Professor Ozpin

Grimm Anatomy - Peter Port

Situational Study- Professor Ozpin

LUNCH PERIOD

Music Assessment (For those who play an instrument/ instrumental weapon)- Professor Ozpin

Marksman Training(Guns-Specified Weapons Only)- Professor Ozpin

Weapon Engineering- Peter Port

Study Period-Professor Ozpin

Well, this doesn't look like a bad schedule by any means. Hell, I got the most common teachers out of the school, there's like thirty different professors from what I've heard but they are divided into what type of classes you are placed in..

Tenebris looks up away from her paper and stares over to the door. She just stares at the door blankly, like there is someone in the doorway. "Primm?" I ask. "You o.k.?" She keeps on staring. I ask again. She just keeps on staring. Jeez, what is it with my friends tripping out today? I snap my fingers in front of her. Nothing. I stare over at the door and notice there seems to be some feet at the bottom of the threshold. I slowly walk over to the door and I press my ear against the door and I hear something. Slow, sharp breathing. I clench the door handle with one hand and one of my revolvers with the other. I slowly turn the knob and turn my head over to Tenebris. She is still staring at the door. Leon looks over to me and hands, " What is wrong with you guys?" "Hey Leo, You happen to have your weapon with you?" I ask. Yes." He quickly walks over to his bunk and crouches down and pulls out an elegant guitar with sharpened edges around the base. He slings the guitar strap over his shoulders and readies into playing position. He cranks a small knob in the side and feedback begins to ring. I turn the knob and sling open the door, pointing my revolver out of the doorway, hammer pulled back. There was nothing in sight. I look to my left and right and I see nothing down the hallway. The hall feels slightly colder than normal and a small bit of air hits my nose downward, almost as if there was an after shock of a jetstream.

There was a pair of brown dress shoes, laying perfectly together, as if they were just taken off. Inside one of the shoes is a note, written on a piece of notebook paper. I wonder what's on this? I opened the page and wrote on the sheet…..

Salutations Let's meet up sometime

There has been a rat scurrying about I want to meet you with Mr. Maelstrom

Even though It may be wrong Nonetheless, I know your Plan.

Really you are the huntsman, Mr. Branwen Good day and so forth, - (Nothing)

It's all written in scribbles. "Stand down Leo." Leon lowers his guitar and lifts off the strap. "What did you find?" He asked. "Nothing, just a pair of brown shoes. Hey, what was with you and Tenebris zoning out? "I have no idea, I think our only candidate is our friend Tenebris." "What?" Tenebris asks. "Why were you crackin out on us?"

"What are you talking about? Seraek, stop being an ass! I've just been sitting here, looking at my schedule.`` I look away and put my schedule and note in my pocket. "Hey, I also forgot to hand out our uniforms." Tenebris hands out a folded set of brown pants and suit jacket. Honestly, This is the only thing I truly love about this place. The uniforms are kind of badass looking. "I'm assuming we need to turn in our weapons, huh?" I ask. "Oh god, I remembered!" Tenebris shrieks. "What's the matter?" I ask. "I love my weapon, Astraglaive never leaves my side." She says while hugging a silver plated S.M.G upon her chest. '' Primm, you need to give it to the big man at the top of the clock tower. Or else he'll scrap it for parts." I say teasingly. Her eyes became very wide and big. Reminding me of a baby bat. " Ten, stop it." I look deeper into the pupils of her eyes. A black void of nothing but contempt and sadness. "I was joking." A little jolt of lightning came out of her finger and numbed my hand. "I was joking, too." She replies while smiling devilishly.

She giggled a little and Leon looked over to me. "I need your weapon, Seraek. We don't need to get into trouble." Leon hands me. I reach into my jacket and pull out my revolvers. He grabs my weapon and I twitch my fingers to activate the gravity dust. Leon slightly leans forward and he looks not surprised and looks over to me. He walks over to me and puts both guns in one arm. "Good try." He replies. "You know I'm just taking these to our lockers. I don't know why your guns weigh 1000 lbs each."

"That's the idea Leon, My weapons hit so hard mainly because I can deactivate my weapon's zero-gravity dust and let the weight do most of the work." Leon looks up and hands me my guns and says, "Turn off the dust." I twitch my finger again. He smiles and picks up his guitar and takes Tenebris's SMG. He walks outside and shuts the door. Tenebris gasps and falls backwards onto a bed. I look over at her and throw her uniform on her chest. She looks down and sighs. " I can't believe I actually made it here. I… I truly am happy Seraek." She smiles. She yawns and pulls up the red covers and closes her eyes. "What are you doing?" I ask. "Getting sleep, dummy. We have school tomorrow." She seemingly falls asleep. I pull out my scroll to see that it is only 6:30pm. "Ten, who the hell falls asleep at 6:30?" "Good Kids' ' she replies. "Screw it, I need some sleep myself. I take off my jacket, shirt and pants and crawl into bed. I weirdly feel insanely tired, like someone just drugged me. I haven't felt like this in a long time. Why now? My eyes eventually close and I am back into darkness again. Nothing happened. Nothing Happened.

Later that night, I showed Leon and Tenebris the note and I told them to be ready at any moment when we get there at the club if anything goes down. They agreed that we hit Blackstone five days from now. It would land on a Friday night where we can have the whole weekend to proceed with our mastermind plan. I wouldn't exactly say a mastermind, more like thrown together and hope to the gods that it will work. I wish I had said something to Leon to adjust the plan. I kind of wish that my own teammate just showed up to school like everyone else. Why does Maelstrom have her? Maybe she was just a random girl who needed money or something. No, no teenage girl wouldn't willingly become a prostitute. No, that's just messed up, get your brain out of the gutter Seraek. That was big dumb.

Leon and Tenebris are out dating or something in the food court. So I'm here by myself in my room; with an old T.V. and a Kiroshi console. So, should I go to bed like a good boy or stay up till' 3:00 am playing video games.?

Screw it, I'm playing me some Super Slash Warriors. I walk over to my cabinet under the T.V. and sift through a couple game cases. Borne Souls (That's a good one. Hard as balls though.) Last Legend (Fun game but is kind of boring after a while.) Samurai Shadows (Ooh, that's my favorite. Still hard as balls though. Made by the same guys that made Borne Souls.) Super Slash Warriors… there it is. I pull out the case and it is covered in a very thin layer of dust. My fingers leave marks in the dust ...(Sigh) you know what, I really don't wanna play this by myself. It's only fun if you have friends playing with you. Besides, the A.I. in the game is total bullshit anyway. I slide the case back into the cabinet and I pull out Samurai Shadows. I observe the case and on the cover is a grizzled man with an axe on his left arm. I think at some point in the game he gets his arm cut off because someone had grandpa issues. I blow the dust off of the case and on the console, hoping that it will boot up and work. I switch on the power button making a cute little *ping* when it turns on. That's a good sign, the gods are on my side this time.

The T.V. displays my accounts and all of my stuff that I haven't touched in two years. Amidst a blue background, there is a little notification prompt on the top right side. On the side of it it reads "30+" I click on the prompt and a notification pops up saying "YOU HAVE 34 UPDATES CURRENTLY UNINSTALLED, WOULD YOU LIKE TO INSTALL NOW?" Uhhh. no.

I start the game, ignoring the updates, and press start on Samurai Shadows. The game opens and I am outside a little door that leads to an open field. A wave of nerves hits me and I remember why I stopped here. This door leads to the final boss of the game and I rage quit. No wonder I never beat the game. I fiddle with the controls a bit, ok, L1 is Deflect, R1 is Attack, ok ok. I head to the door and open it, leading to a hallway that leads to the final boss.

A cutscene opens up and some kid gets like stabbed or something and some anime villain lookin ass has a big-ass kitana speaking some weird language. The weapon has some kind of smoke or fog coming off of it. HOLY SHIT! That means it's infused with like the souls of people he killed! That is go goddamn COOL! The guy gets into a ready stance and so does my samurai guy. The game starts and this guy dashes and slashes like eight times in the matter of a nanosecond. I deflect like two if them and my health is already almost out. The adrenaline immediately hits me and I start mashing the buttons in a terrible panic frenzy. "Oh, shit, shit, shit," I repeat every time I get chased and hit. I die and then the game gives me an option to revive and I do so. The guy then charges up some kind of weird attack and I press the parry button. *KA-SHING* I was too late and I died.

Damnit, I hate this game but I love it so much. I turn off the console and I wonder what time it is. I pull out my scroll and look at the time. 1:38 A.M. it reads.

Shit. I need to get to bed. I stand up and crawl into my bed. I feel immediately warm by laying in it. This is why I love beds so much. You don't really need anyone in them to make them warm but will make you feel good sleeping. Although having someone would make it a lot warmer. Hell, I'd probably fall asleep a lot faster. Pulling the red, thick covers over my body makes me feel a bit more happy. The warmth stills inside my body and I feel like I am at home again. Like I am being wrapped with a blazing fire of comfort and love. Ew. My head strains a bit and I remember when I lived at the Medigo house when Mrs. Medigo tucked us in. Me, Cal, Io, Thebie and Eriva were all just a bunch of dumb kids sleeping in one room all of us had our own beds and we just lived real nice. I miss that so much. I miss having siblings, even if they are not related, I miss them because they are always there with you. It's not like having friends that you only met two months ago. We may fight and bicker with each other, but we were family.

To be honest, I don't really trust Leon and Tenebris enough to call them family. I can't trust a goddamn thing anymore and I honestly don't know why. It's the fact that your only family that you have left is your blood mom and your surrogate sister left. But your surrogate sister is in prison and your blood mom probably doesn't want anything to do with you. I guess that is why I want to find my mom and be a family again. I raise up and look over to the beds to see if anyone is sleeping; Leon and Tenebris are sound asleep next to me and I notice that the other bed is empty. That bed is made for my teammate who isn't here. I feel a bit nervous because Cyzra isn't here.

Maybe I was a bit too harsh on our new teammate, calling her a whore and a dumbass and all was pretty mean. I just don't know why I have to be so damn cynical; it just doesn't feel right. At the same time I just want to get the negatives out of the way so I can try to focus on the positives first. There just doesn't seem to be any positives about most people at all anymore. I guess I try not to get too close with people so I won't be disappointed if they leave or die. Hell, I don't trust Qrow at all. I don't even think he's my uncle, I think he just kidnapped me and trained me to become a huntsman. Why the hell would he do that? Wasting your time on some random kid who you don't know and making him live in a damn closet. I don't know why I just didn't leave.

I do owe him a bit of respect in a way because he did feed me and he did give me a job. I just don't know why I haven't seen him in six months. Always going out and never coming back and talking to me through texts and letters. He is such a bad role model , but I do think he is kind of cool. He helped me create the Bandit Arbalest because I loved Harbinger so much. Overall he's fine. I just wish he acted more like a dad than a distant friend.

Anyway, I lay back into my bed and try to imagine what my team will look like in the future. I can just imagine all four of us looking badass and slapping cheeks in the Vytal Festival.I hope I can convince the guys to create a team motto or something really cool. OOH! Maybe like a full team pose or something. No, that's just stupid. Little too flamboyant for my taste. I just hope that my team will be better than last time I was here. .

Last time before I was here, team C.Y.S.L. lost the quads and we never advanced into the doubles. I think that my team can win the whole damn tournament because we are all kind of different in our fighting styles. I have the panache with my swords, Tenebris has this weird thing with lightning that she uses and Leon is super strong, but what is so special about Cyzra? Is she super fast or has some cool faunus semblance? Funny thing is, I never found my semblance yet. That is why I feel like I am the weakest out of my team because I just feel like a dead weight. Maybe I'll find it one day. I just hope it's really goddamn soon. Supposedly, you find your semblance by a near death experience or some kind of intense scenario of sorts. Like someone stabbing you or using some kind of attack, hell maybe getting scared helps. I took up Qrows bounty hunting profession because I feel like one day it might help me find my power; laying in this bed won't help.

I begin to feel really hot, like I am laying in lava and I cannot bear it anymore. I take off my shirt and pants and I begin to cool a bit more. The AC in the school just sucks and it's around the end of summer, so it is still kind of muggy. I throw off the covers and I walk to the window and open it up. Thankfully, I'm only on the second floor so if I sleepwalk out of the window, It won't be too bad of a fall. At most a broken arm, if I fall. The building goes up to like twelve floors and it's sort of scary up there.

Peering out of the window, I notice the huge sprawling forest behind me. Such a large forest, littered with Grimm. I don't exactly have a ton of experience with Grimm and for not so good reason. I lived in towns and cities for most of my life and I've only fought one boarbatusk and barely won. I mean, I was like ten and I had no clue how to use a sword. You know, I kind of have a bit of energy left, why not have a little bit of practice?

I walk over to my dresser and put on my jacket and pants and out the door. Heading towards my locker, I remember that my number was #1170 so I head down to the first floor hallways. No one was in the halls, not a soul or sound was made. After about five minutes of walking, I make it to my locker and pull out my pistols and stick them in my jacket holsters. I take the back exit towards the woods and I get outside.

I feel the cool breeze of the night, trembling down my spine and twiddling my nerves. Casted only by the dark moonlight. Darkness. Darkness and silence. That is how I like it.

I walk out onto a large patch of grass and I look up into the sky to see the moon is still shining upon

Me andI feel right at home. Next to the scrambled moon, there lies the stadium of the Vytal Festival. No lights, no sound, no anything. I can still hear the almost spiritual cries and hurrahs of the audience. Laughing and cheering for my team to win. A smile came to my face and I felt a little less cold inside. The place was sitting like a brazened, floating king in the sky. It looks almost like a top that never spinned. I look away from the stadium and look back towards the winding forest.

Hundreds of thousands of trees lie in wait of what kind of monsters lurk about deep in the despicable depths inside. I pull out my two revolvers and examine them further. The pistols have small bayonets on the ends of them. Those extend out into katana-esque blades and combining them together create the mighty greatsword. I know swords are a bit basic, but I feel like I can make it better. I always thought if I could have a pirate sword and a cowboy revolver it would be the best of both worlds. I look at the safety on the pistols and on it lists the sword modes. I flick the switches and the blades instantly *SHING* forward, the handles adjust into hilts of swords and the barrel aligns with the end of the blade. The barrel elongates along the spine of the sword and the cylinder of the revolver lines up to make a pistol still.

I take the swords and hold them outwards and I begin to work on my stance. I stick out my right hand and I cross over the left hand to create a pseudo- scissor like stance. I stick my left foot forward and my right back to my side. I have my back hunched over to help hit harder. I breathe in and out. In and out. In and out.

I exhale slowly and I leap with grace and unleash a cross attack. The blades rubbing against each other, grinding in quick succession to both sharpen and slash out in a scissor like fashion. I flip backwards and ready up again. I think I should do some kicks. I raise the ball of my foot and I jump, leading with my left leg, I spin left and I switch over to spinning in a downward angle, My foot leads down, driving it into the ground making a loud *THOOM* and leaving a small divot in the dirt. I can feel the adrenaline in my body working their way into my brain. A bead of sweat falls down and signals me that I just did something cool.

I twist up and slash upwards and I unleash a flurry of about eight slashes, kind of like the guy in the video game. There are some edge lines still in the air and I can still hear the hum of the blade ringing in the air like a graceful bell. That is a sound I will never forget. After about a half-hour, I feel sweaty. I am sweaty, I am sweat itself. I sit down at the ground and sit in a criss cross position and close my eyes to take a break. I try to open my eyes, but they won't open. I tried again, nothing. Oh no.

Oh no

Oh no…

It is the Void again, goddamn it.

Chapter Six: Lady Akeroa, Deaconess of the Void

I can feel my body sinking again. Down, down, down I go and I eventually hit the ground. I hit the ground and there is no sound and feel nothing; as if I just fell into a void of weightless feathers. Why is this happening? Maybe it's just a dumb dream. I lay face up and I try smacking myself in the face to wake me up. No, no. Don't tell me I'm here.(sighs) Oh, no. I stand up and look around the voidless room that is nothing but darkness. I can't hear anything at all; The only thing I hear is nothing but white noise almost like static from a tv. I raise my hands and I smack against my head to hear anything. Nothing. I look at my feet and I notice a circle of light that appears to be a type of spotlight spotting down at me. I look up and there is nothing. No light, no glare, no nothing. I try to look off into the distance to see if there is any kind of exit or way to get out of here. Still nothing. The void around me then begins to flicker and then stops. It flickers again, similar to a tv. Then, suddenly, text comes up on it and reads,

" You've won, Hero!"

I feel something stilling on my body and I begin to hear a terrible sound. It is almost like a surreal buzzing sound mixed with a slight screeching noise like razor blades on piano wires. There was an odd feeling of a buzzing in my chest that almost seemed like the fear was trying to rip itself out of my chest. My ears begin to ring as if a flashbang went off. I feel the back of my neck getting cold as the adrenaline begins to pump through my body. I turn around while holding my hand on my neck, hoping to see that someone stabbed me with an icicle. My breathing begins to get shorter and quicker as if I am running out of air.

I inhale as hard as I can and nothing happens. I gasp for air and I begin to choke. I start running and running and running, hoping to find some kind of exit. My eyes begin to dart around and I begin to feel more and more sick. I think that I am dying and I want to just let it go away. I scream into the void as hard as I can.

"LEAVE ME BE! WHY CAN"T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!'

Nothing. Nothing is heard by me screaming. I slam my fists into the ground hoping that something would hear me. I keep on running and running to escape but nothing is working. I begin to hear the sound of happy laughter somewhere out in the distance. When there is a giggle, it slowly disappears.

"Hello!?" I called out.

The suffocation is almost taking hold of me and my face is pulsating with the lack of oxygen and I begin to give in. I collapse into the ground and I lay into the void hoping to get some air. I look up and I see the guy. That guy that was on the ship. Zane. He is standing over me in a stoic manner and cranes over to me and says,

"You've won. 't anyone tell you fighting in public is rude?"

"FUCK YOU!" I scream at him.

He kicks me over and he holds some kind of sawed-off double barreled shotgun at me and puts two rounds into my chest. BOOM. BOOM. He then disappears and I look at my chest. I can see the innards of my ribcage and the pulsating blood of my heart and lungs. Skin blackened by the blast of the shot and parts of the skin punctured like swiss cheese due to the pellets. I eventually passed out and I think I have died for real this time. You know when you're asleep and you feel like you just fell off a building and you hit the ground and you just spasm all over the place. Yeah, I didn't feel that. I just became all floaty and shit.

I can breathe now. Wait, I'm not dead? Oh for god's sake, just kill me!

"No." A deep female voice says. "I'm done playing games with you. You're no fun at all. So, I'm just gonna wing it."

I open my eyes slowly and it's her…. The siren lady. Her blackened face that looks like coal with rubies for eyes and white stones for teeth, kneeling before me. "Here, get the hell up and go back to your silly bed." I lean up and I notice that the bullet holes from before are gone. The wound seems like they weren't there before. Almost if they never even existed. I stand up and I am in some kind of alley way that seems to stretch forever. The siren lady swipes her hand and opens a portal of sorts and begins to walk into it. I run up and grab her by her wrist and I look up.

"Who are you? Where is the other one?"

She scoffs and looks at me. "Seriously?" She says annoyed. "I've been tormenting you for three weeks and that is what you ask me? Also she is not here at the moment. She and I had a little disagreement the other night."

I begin to stutter and I give up and not say anything. She sighs and she closes her portal. I look at her and she looks at me with a more intimate look as she is going to make out with me. She then summons a booth and table. Assuming that we're going to talk. She summons a lit candle and a bouquet of flowers.

"Ooh, is this a fancy way of killing me? If there's one thing I always would ask for in death is presentation. If you're gonna kill me, at least use an olive fork." I ask impatiently.

"No it's not dumbass, just siddown. I have a couple of things I would like to say''

I sit and so does she. She pulls out a cigarette from an invisible pocket and lights it. She takes a long hard drag from it and blows it into my face. The smoke clouded into my eyes, making them all watery and sour. The smell of the cigarette was something to be disposed of. The smell of soot and rancid smoke smelling that of garbage, ruminated my nose and slinked it's way into my throat. I gave out a slight cough.

"Wanna smoke?" She asks.

"You got cigars?" I ask playfully.

"What are you some kind of pimp?"

"Nah, I just never had a cigar before. I think they look cool"

A cigar pops in my mouth already lit. I take a drag and the smoke emanates a lemony smoke into my lungs; smelling like a type of incense.

"This is pretty good to be honest." I say while letting out a cough,

"I made it like that. You smelled mine and it made you disgusted, so I made yours taste like lemons. I'll try to make it smell like oranges next time."

"Thanks."

How could she tell I didn't like the smell? I think it was my facial expression or something. I've had a cigar before and the smell is just as bad but it's more like a sweeter smell. This is like I smoked some lemon siren adjusts herself as if she is uncomfortable in her seat and pulls back her hair to look more clear. She takes another drag from the cigarette and blows out another large cloud.

"I know it's pointless to smoke in a dream but it's fun to pretend to act like a badass. You know what they say; smoking in a conversation makes it about forty percent more intense; especially in movies. ." She says.

"I like it here…" She stops and looks around and gives a scoff of disappointment.

"God, it is so boring here." She says while snapping her fingers. "I need a bit of scenery, please!"

The room begins to become more white and gusts of wind hit my face like they did this morning. Or was it yesterday? My eyes dart around and notice people materializing in thin air. Jukeboxes, windows, old payphones and all kinds of old looking vintage stuff appear to make out some kind of old diner. I start to hear the clattering of utensils and lively rock music begins to play and the sound of laughter begins to fill the room.

More booths came and were filled with normal people acting completely oblivious like there is no depth defying magic going on here. I stand up out of the booth and walk over to a guy sitting at the booth. Some random brown haired guy with fair skin.

"Hey, buddy, You uhh- know what the hell's going on, by chance?" No response.

"It's pointless." She says.

"Hey!" I try to tap the guy on the shoulder and my hand dissolves straight through him. A warm bit of something wraps around my hand, climbing up my arm the farther I go through him. I yank my arm back expecting to have ripped his guts out, but nothing. My hand is completely clean.

" I guess while this is doing its thing, I should probably explain what is going on."

I quickly snapped my vision back over to the woman who was in the booth.

" What kind of thing?" I ask. " A demon? A grimm or monster? What the hell are you ?"

"Alright, calm down with the questions." She snaps. "One at a time!" She snuffs her cigarette in the ashtray. "I am basically all of those things and then some. Also I am kind of you in some way."

How the hell is someone who is a figment of your imagination myself? Is it like a weird subconscious thing that is just a side effect of me being crazy. I have to at least tell her what I think about her being here.

"No you're not crazy and why do you think you have to tell me something?" She asks impatiently. Wait, can she read my mind? My body begins to shiver a bit and I ask,

"How do you know what I was about to say?"

"I can read your mind, stupid."

Oh, that's great. A monster that can read my mind.

"I heard that." She said, "Also why is it you are so hateful of me? What do I do that makes you so damn wary of me? I just want to talk."

"Okay I'm gonna think of something and you repeat it!" I say stupidly. "Oh no…"

Boobies.

"Yes, I do have those." She replies. "Have you had enough?"

"Dude, you have done nothing but terrify me for three weeks and for no reason!" I state. "Imagine the most agonizing nightmares that you have on a constant basis for almost a month and try to have a good sleep schedule."

She sits back and gives a confused look. "I kind of just did it all as a big goof. These dreams are just your way of dealing with your issues and quite frankly are not really that original" she says. "I just thought I was being funny. Also, I am not a dude. At least I think I'm not."

"Don't play dumb lady, I just want to know why you are here and why this is happening?" She sighs and clears her throat.

"I can't kill you, but I can have fun. I just am an entity who has nowhere to go and I ended up in your head. Quite frankly I hate and love this place. It's also kind of fucked up in here." She says.

"How so?" I ask. She looks over and in the corner of the diner, a whole section of tables are full of naked models from magazines and Qrow's lady regulars. . An absolute assortment of faunus ladies and humans. With every kind of hair color and…chest size. I immediately blush in embarrassment and I pathetically reply. "Get them out of here please?" "Are you sure? You seem to like them." "Just don't make me more insecure." I reply, She snaps her fingers and they all gasp and disappear.

"You can read my mind and stuff. This place, I loved old diners and all kinds of old time crap to the point where it is an obsession. Are you me?" I ask. "Yes." She replies. It seems this time I got her. "Yes, you did get me and I am also your personal demon." "Personal demons?" I ask.

"Like all of the dumb and bad shit you have done." She replies. "I am like you."

` "How are you like me?" I ask. Knowing that this just some dumb existencial dream I breathe in to relax. "Basically, I am your soul, at least all of the things that represent you." She replies sheepishly. "Your passion, your sadness, your joy, anger, et cetera." "So if you are like me then why don't you just look like me?" I ask back. She shoots her head up in attention and surprise. Like someone just woke her up from a nap. "Oh, that's right!" she says. She waves her hand by her face and the blackness fades away, revealing a more normal looking face. She expressed long black hair, thick spectacles, green eyes, tanned complexion and a sneer that rivals mine. She has a streak of light freckles across her nose. Her brow was furrowed similar to mine and the features look like mine but are gender reversed.

"Wait, I don't look like that." I say back. "Ugh! Gods, this is what I like and that's final buckaroo." I look at her face and notice that since I'm not exactly a ladies man; I see that she has features of what I would imagine what my dream girlfriend looks like. I stare longingly into her eyes and admire their emerald shaded glimmer in the nonexistent sunlight. Oh… "Hey!" She says while snapping. "Can you stop drooling?"

I snap back to reality and I notice there is a small bit of spit on my lip and I quickly wipe it away. "Sorry." I replied. She sighs. "It's alright, I can understand why most would find me cute." I immediately feel a bit of warmth in my chest as if someone said something nice to me. Wait.

"Are you me?" I ask her. "So I've heard!" She replies back while taking another drag. She laughs and grabs my arm, "You know, I'm not really one-hundred percent you and I'm trying to find a way to get the hell out of here." She says seriously, "Why?" I ask. "I mean I can be your friend." She slams her fists on the table and stares up at me. "NO! I want to leave and find someone else to annoy." She yells. "I just want to get out of your depressing as hell brain. Mr. Insecure." "I'm sorry, okay?" I say back sadly. "I just wanted to help, asshole."

"I hate this place and I hate you too. You are such a fucking loser sometimes and I think you have a serious complex problem but I'll get to that some other time." My heart immediately sinks and I feel like I have to throw up. My breath begins to become short again and I need something to drink. A bottle of water shows up on the table and I take a big drink, hoping that it will make me feel better. "Oh, look at you now. Just a few words and you collapse. I thought you were some tough up and coming bounty hunter with sixty-eight confirmed kills." She gets out of the table and stands above me stoically. My eyes begin to tear up and I quickly rip away at my eyes and wipe the tears. "Gonna cry? Jeez you are such a pussy. I'm a girl and I have more balls than you." I have had enough of how people are mean to me. Those girls at the table, that asshole that threw food at Leon. I have to do something right here and now and I know that I might not do jack shit in a dream, but I'll do it. Hey, this is a dream and I can wish whatever I want.

In an instant, I feel a drag in my hands and my greatsword is now with me. I stand up and lay the sword on my shoulder and I feel immense power driving within me. "YOU DIE NOW, DEMON!" I scream at her.

"Actually, my name is Akeroa." She says snidefully. I leap up with my sword swung backwards and I click the button to turn off the zero-gravity dust. The sword heaves forward in the immense weight feeling like the sword is controlling me. I slash perfectly in the middle of her body. Her head and parts of chest are cut in half and reveal bits of grey matter oozing out of her body. The head split open like a watermelon being crushed and the arteries of where I hit; spraying blood everywhere as if it were raining. Red organs and the cracking of the shattered bones leave a memory of when I killed Marko Xeno. I sliced him in half, considering he was a pedophile and he was my first target. Here I only went half way. Why?

"Nice try." She says; her voice coming out of nowhere. . "We'll talk later, I like your visits. Just remember not to kill me again next time. I'll talk next week." Her supposed corpse that is left, slowly creaks up her hand to move the sword out of her still alive corpse. The sword thudded loudly against the floor. Now, all of a sudden, all of the people in the diner stop what they are doing.

Sipping sodas, ordering food and tapping to the beat of the jukebox, all stopped to witness the ghastly and gory scene that had just happened. All of the boys and girls gasp in shock and for some reason begin to point at me. All of them point with their fingers and just stare menacingly. I look around and feel that the room is getting immensely hot and fiery. The burning skin begins to droop looking almost like melted cheese and falling apart revealing the bone. I look down and my clothes are on fire and I feel like my skin is getting pulled off. My arms are melting, revealing bone and muscle tissue and I scream in agony. The people around me are melting too like rustic zombies all on fire. The corpse begins to slouch over to me and cranes over my body. "Before I go, one of the answers is in your pockets." She pops away like a magic trick and I lay there in the burning diner and hearing the faint screams of something in the back. I can't move and I want to help, but I can't. I slowly close my eyes and let the scarring take me, making me feel like I truly died.

I wake up, still outside and lying down on the ground, face first into the dirt. I roll over and feel a slight paste feeling on my face like it was smeared with something. I wiped my face and there was a little bit of dirt smudged on my cheek. I stand up and stretch my back backwards, hoping it will pop and *CRACK*, it does. Inhaling deeply to gain a bit of courage back from what happened. Funny, considering that my subconscious is a total asshole. I can understand I have some insecurities, but damn, that thing knew me better than my mother.

Now that makes sense. I have no idea why exactly my subconscious is a girl. Maybe it's like the opposite side of me in some way. One thing that I don't really understand is why my subconscious is a girl. She kind of reminded me of Cal when we were younger. She dyed her hair white because she didn't like her hair darkened. She looked more or less sinister than Callisto. It almost reminded me of a succubus; in a way that she looks pretty but is secretly evil. The point is that she is my polar opposite. She was pretty and I was less handsome. I am a bit more insecure, but she seemed more chilled out. I am hard to annoy, but she wasn't.

I wish that I was a bit more lax with her but I was sort of scared. It's been a while since I've been scared of something. To be honest, I don't know why I'm not so scared of stuff. I can get into a fight with a drunken student trying to kill me, but a figment of my imagination almost makes me piss myself. I really need to see a therapist sometime soon. I don't think a shrink is really going to relate with a seventeen year old bounty hunter who killed numerous people . Shit, It would blow my cover. Ozpin already knows that I am a part of Project PeaceKeeper and the only reason I'm not in jail is because Ozpin is a boy and he can keep a good secret.

If he reported me to the cops, I'd be screwed. I'd end up like Callisto and honestly, if I knew I would be cellmates I'd walk up to Ozpin and give him the biggest finger and take the fattest dump on his desk. Sadly, I at least try to have a modicum of respect for the guy. I probably wouldn't do stuff like that because if I did, he'd probably kill me himself. That is a fate that genuinely terrifies me, being killed by a god such as Ozpin. He deserves at least some respect. Although I respect him, I don't think that I can trust him. . I don't know why I have such a distrust of him. I think it has to do with me thinking he's hiding something. Just the way he talks seems like he wants to distance himself from everyone. He does it to both teachers and students and the only one that I know of is Professor Goodwitch. Maybe he's banging her or something, I don't know. It's probably that they were childhood friends or maybe they are just in kahoots with something.

It may be nefarious or a good thing, either way I don't care. I just hope that I'm not involved with it in that Akeroa had a point about me being jumpy and insecure. She, I mean, I have a pretty valid point about myself. Maybe that's all of the bounties catching up with me. I'm just kind of tired going after the weak targets that are just soldiers for the mafia. Akeroa did know about my first target, Marko Xeno. That guy was up for a pretty big price; 200,000 lines and 500,000 points. He was slated for selling and distributing homemade snuff films and had charges of misdemeanor with minors. I had to kill that son of a bitch no matter what the cost was. You know, screw it, I don't wanna remember that for now. What did she tell me again? "The answers are in your pocket." I pull out everything in my pockets, which is just my scroll and the note. I look over at the piece of paper and I read it again.

Salutations Let's Meet Up Sometime

There has been a rat scurrying about I want to meet you with Mr. Maelstrom

Even though It may be Wrong Nonetheless, I know your Plan.

Really you are the hunter, Mr. Branwen Good Day and so forth, - (Nothing)
-

It seems that this guy, whoever he is, knows who I am. I wonder why the guy wrote everything in incomplete sentences and put sentences on one end of the paper. I'll try to read the thing top to bottom and left to right. Hmm, the "Salutations" seems to be connected to the "Let's meet up sometime". I notice that reading the page also works by reading it top to bottom. Wait. Wait a goddamn minute. The letters of the sentences seem to follow a pattern. S,T,E,R,L,I,N,G.

So it spells Sterling, what could that mean? The guy knows me so maybe he has something to do with PeaceKeeper. I look at my scroll and I feel a rush of excitement and I pull up my scroll and I open up my link to the custom net for the organization. When I applied, I had to get an older model of a scroll that had a USB port for the system log I had to install in my phone. Supposedly, the guy who runs the organization, who goes by the name Aqua, has a friend who runs the phone systems. The company that puts the chips in the phones designed a freenet server that the company high-ups can communicate with each other. Thankfully, the server isn't used anymore so that gives Aqua free range to communicate with us. I fear that the phone company still uses it, so that is why I don't use it that often. I just use it to check updates and the leaderboards. I mentioned that the guy I hunted was worth 500,000 points. The guild basically has a reward system that runs on points.

Say if a target is a certain type of person or they have a big reputation, the higher the pay and the score. If you just haul in a dead, random thug; at best you would get like five-hundred bucks. If it was some super famous gangster, it would change exponentially. That is just one determining factor. But to the matter at hand. I look at the leaderboard and refresh the stats; it updates about every ten minutes. Usually there are only about five people on the leaderboard and I wonder If I am still on it. The list reads…..

Sterling- 2,529,025

Aqua-1,594,150

Skyfall-1,422,375

DedZed-954.915

Guest-7758- 950,140

" Oh, come on!" I yell out while immediatly covering my mouth, hoping I didn't wake anyone up. Last place again. To be fair, I haven't been very active on the front because I needed some time to relax. What the hell did I do yesterday? I think I just slept all day and drank some sleep medicine. Or was that last week? I need to get a grip. There is a reward for the leaderboards though. Every quarter (Three months) the winner of the list gets like a random prize that comes from an anonymous sponsor. The prize could be a 200 lien gift card, a date coupon with a guild member (It can be anyone.), an egregious amount of money. (I was the leader of the leaderboard last year, that is why I had 20 millon under my bed just sitting there. I guess I just got super lucky.

It appears that Sterling is on the top and he racks up a bigger racket than I ever did. My highest was in the 1.9 millions. This boy is in the 2 millions; but it also raises the question. What does this guy want with me? Am I of interest to him or is he just some punk ass who wants to kill the competition. I bet it's the latter and I hope I am wrong. To be fair, someone showing interest in me feels nice but kind of creepy since I don't even know them. I just hope I don't disappoint the guy; I mean he works for Red Maelstrom. Red is the talk of the town and for good reason.

He used to be a tycoon of some dust distribution company that gave access to the Atlas Military during one of their old campaigns. He for some unknown reason filed for bankruptcy and he became a gangster. The police have been trying to arrest him for pretty much every crime under the sun. The only reason that I know is that he hides in plain sight just like me. He has connections all over the city and he hires huntsmen to do work for him. Maybe that is why Sterling wants me to talk. It's probably a business discussion of some kind of generous proportions! The only condition is that I wonder what kind of pay he's giving me. If I'm doing a job, I need to understand the stakes that are being given to me. I'm not exactly an expert on this stuff; normally I just take the order on the notifications, first come first serve. This is something different, something big. Considering how much that Red is known in the underbelly, he's loaded beyond belief. He's probably gonna pay me in the boatloads. I won't have to be some stupid bounty hunter anymore, I can be one of the big guys and not be some loser anymore. I can be somebody. I did say that I was a bad guy who killed worse guys for money.

I respect most three bit gangsters, they fight for the freedom of the peeps. The point is that I want to know if Red is the real deal or not. I just hope he's a good guy. Maybe something really messed up happened to his family and he wants revenge on society. Or maybe he's a fucked up psycho that is a force to be reckoned with.

Now that I have my schooling in check, I just need to wait out the week for my, I mean, our plan to come to fruition. The point is that I don't know where to go. I have three choices: One, I find my new teammate, Two, I take the business deal with Sterling or Three, Me and all of my friends will die. I have time for what is to come, I just need to be prepared. I stuff my phone and the note back into my pocket and make my way back to the dorm.

It was still night as far as I could tell. The cracked moon was slightly lowered, showing that it was nearing daytime. I pull out my phone to see the time; It reads 4:45 AM. I have about another 2 hours of sleep left before I need to get up for breakfast. I missed the breakfasts here because the pancakes are so damn good. The savory fluffy taste of the cake mixed with the sweet, cinnamon-maple syrup. Ohh god…. That sounds good. I begin to walk faster to the dorms and I make my way into the dormitory building. I walk into the lobby where the hub for the building is. No one was at the reception desk, assuming that no one was working tonight. The hall was full of all kinds of odds and ends that appealed to someone living in a dorm. Pool table, ping pong table, a couple vending machines and some doors leading to first floor showers and bathrooms. You know, the works. The walls were painted a bright but kind of bold white color. The outer edges of the walls were lined with a grand wood baseboard, shining with a dark wood finish. My stomach rumbles a bit, signaling me that I am hungry, I walk over to the vending machine and buy a bag of onion rings. I make my way back to my dorm and quietly open the door.

I walk inside and notice that everyone is asleep and I immediately activate stealth mode. I slowly tip-toe my way to my bed and I crawl back into it. The mattress creaks a little bit and is very loud. I shoot my vision towards the guys and Tenebris rolls to her other side. I exhale and lay down slowly, letting the mattress

I cover myself up with the large blanket and fiddle around to make myself comfortable. I look under the covers and my legs are criss-crossed in scissor and my right arm is under my back. My left arm just kinda hanging off the end of the bed. I fiddle again to make myself more comfortable. Finally after about five minutes I can get into a good position.

"Seraek, you suck at sleeping." I hear Tenebris say. I look over and she is wide awake. "Oh, sorry. I'll step up my sleeping game by taking cyanide." I remark. She sighs and slaps the side of her head onto her pillow. She stares at me with a tired look, "Why are you so cynical about stuff, Sera? Why are you so damn nervous about stuff that's really not all that serious?" "Well, that was pretty fast." I reply sarcastically. `"I don't really know."

"Then why don't you know?" She asks again.

"I guess I don't like to disappoint people. I'm super self-conscious about who I am." I say sheepishly.

"Seraek, I know you are a decent guy and all, but I'm starting to think you have something wrong with you. Like mentally." My skin begins to feel a bit cold due to me hearing that. I am crazy and she knows it.

"What makes you think that?" "In like the three months I've known you, the whole shy-guy thing is kind of cringy. I've never seen a guy who can shoot a guy in the head without second thought, but be scared of talking to girls and throwing up in public over them just insulting you." My heart sinks a bit down, colliding with my cold skin. I have to say something to appease her.

"I..I..I. (Sigh) I don't know." Goddamn it, why?

"You don't know. What the hell do you know? I'm sorry for you, but you are never gonna find a hoe for you if you act like this, it's embarrassing. For both you and me." I never actually thought abou how I felt about relationships and that kind of stuff. I just sort of expect to just happen to be around people that have a fleeting reason to like me. "I don't want a hoe. I just want a girl who is just sweet and is not as crazy as I am. Just to kind of balance things out." I answer."Wanting a specific girl is never going to happen, S" Tenebris says annoyed. "Sometimes stuff just happens and you find someone you like." I don't really know "I can't find anyone that I like. Most of the girls I've met are either psychos or total bitches."

"We all are psycho bitches, Seraek. You just need to find one that is not as much a psycho bitch."

"Why, all the super handsome guys get laid and all kinds of hot girls and I don't?\"

"Who told you that?"

"No one. That's what I've seen in the movies. Guy is super buff and shit and he flexes his asscheeks at a girl and they live happily ever after."

"Seraek, you are a fucking moron if you think that is the way the world works. It's movie bullshit that they make for plot convenience. No one actually thinks like that."

"I guess, but why am I such an exception then?"

"Seraek, what is the big deal? It's just sex."
"That's not….what I'm talking about."

"No, it is. Deep down that is what all guys want."

"It's not like that…."

"Seraek, girls want that kinky shit too. Some girls are just super uncomfortable about it."

"Well, why are they so evasive about it if guys are so open about it."

"Girls are super uhh… unevasive, if that is even a word, about that kind of stuff. I mean we don't feel like getting fat and pregnant all the time."

"I don't even want to think about that at my age. Why are you actually talking to me over this."

"I want to give advice to you, bud. I mean if you're gonna be my team leader, you're gonna need a bit of advice and motivation"

"Wait. S.C.L.T. is going to be a thing? Did Ozpin tell you something?"

"Yeah, when we were gone he called me and Leo to his office and told me that he wanted you to lead us. He said it was some kind of test or something."

"Why the fuck is everything a test with him? You guys are supposed to go to the landing strategy tomorrow. You guys are first years."

"What is a landing strategy?"

"Basically you get put on these pads and you get launched into the woods and the first person you see is your teammate. Also you have to find these chess pieces and put them in a temple thing."

"That sounds stupid."

"Yeah, the only reason why I was able to find my foster sister was because I just ran away from the other people I found."

"Wait, your foster sister?"

"Oh, I never told you about Callisto. I grew up with her and she convinced me to be a huntsman. I looked up to her and she took care of me and stuff. I haven't seen her in a long time."

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Can we just go to bed?"

"Sure, just promise me you won't be a simp tomorrow."

"What's a simp?"

She fell asleep, out like a light and so did I.

Chapter Seven: Be An Honest Student

That night I didn't have any more nightmares. At least for now Akeroa said she won't talk to me for a week. That means after the job is done, she will talk to me again, I hope. I actually woke up at 6:30, which for me is the equivalent of waking up at midnight for a snack. For the while I've been gone I kind of just slept whenever.

Sometimes I would only sleep for maybe two hours, sometimes I would sleep for three days at a time because of sleep deprivation. It never really bothers me, but I kind of wish that sleep didn't exist. I could get so much more done if I didn't have to shut my eyes and have nightmares about stupid crap.

Tenebris is not a morning person by any means; she threatened to shoot me because I tried to wake her up. I promptly reminded her that her weapon was in her locker. Leon was already up and going before any of us. Normally classes start at 9:00, but I want to enjoy my morning and have some breakfast without paying for it.

Besides, I get to learn more about Leon and Tenebris. I wonder why Ozpin didn't want them to do the landing strategy. Maybe it has something to do with me being a second year, but I don't have a team. I just think it's kind of unfair for them to be stuck with my useless ass instead of someone more capable.

I just have a huge weight of being someone who people look up to. If I were king, I would probably end the world in three weeks. It would be fun to be royalty, but I am not fortunate to be in a fancy family, let alone a family with a sense of respect.

I took a seat at one of the desks examining my school uniform, admiring the blackened brown jacket and pants and imagining the complete look of the suit. I strip off my jacket, tank top and jeans and get to third base in my undies. Since we don't have dressing rooms, we kind of have to see each other in our undies which is a little bit weird.

I notice Tenebris taking off her night shirt and pants and I immediately look away in respect, blushing in embarrassment.

"What is it?" She asks.

"I just noticed that you were undressing Ten. I'm sorry if I was looking." I reply.

¨You say that you have girl issues, right?¨

¨Yeah, but I don´t really need you to tell me anything.¨

¨Why not?¨

¨You´re one of my only friends and I want to just be friends with you.¨

¨You really need to break the friend zone sometimes, bud. You can´t be friends with everyone.¨

¨Is that bad?¨

¨No, you can die sad and alone by not being confident enough, you will die a horrible death by disease and avarice over the things you have done. No one will be there to help you and no matter what things will all go down hill.¨

¨Ok, fuck I´ll take your advice. Is there a setting to turn this creepy shit off?¨

She giggles a bit before walking over to me.

"Seraek, I need to show you something." She snickers. "The first thing that you do with a girl after making out, is getting her clothes off."

¨We haven´t done the secret handshake yet.¨ I say quietly.

¨Ẅhat? We don´t even have a secret handshake and we live with each other. You just high-five your dates, no wonder you can´t get laid."

My face goes beet red and I begin to feel insanely awkward. She reaches for my chest and I have to get her away now.

"BITCH, GET YO' HANDS OFF!" I exclaim in a flamboyant voice. She steps back and laughs more. "It's not funny." I retort pathetically. "We really need to work that confidence around girls. I mean you almost pissed yourself. Hehe. I wasn't actually gonna do that, Sera."

"Well then what were you gonna do?"

"Seraek, I want you to look at me." She says calmly. I look at her for a couple of seconds and immediately look away. She gently pulls my nose to make me look at her.

She was wearing a grey sports bra and panties that seemed to fit her perfectly. Tenebris is about 5'6' and 130 lbs so she looks average for a girl her age. Her breasts and hips were slim that complimented her basic sports bra in simple harmony. She walks back to me and raises her arms to my chest. "Now, most girls our age wear sports bras and If you want to take it off, just grab here (She grabs the trape under both of my armpits.) and lift straight off."

Confused by the amount of wierd information I ask, "What the fuck am I gonna use this for?" I ask sheepishly. "Just giving advice big guy." She replies happily. "I swear if you keep this pace up, if you saw bare titties, you'd get a nose bleed." She giggles again. I sarcastically giggle back.

She walks away and begins to throw on her uniform. So do I. After about five minutes we have our uniforms on and Tenebris looks disgusted. She begins to fidget around while grunting and whining at her appearance. Her uniform is sloppily put together with annoyingly simple mistakes. Her skirt was crinkled, buttons were out of sync with the holes and the sleeves were creased.

"How did your uni' get like that?" I ask. "That is what I get for not folding stuff! Goddamn it, I'm sorry sir!" She exclaims while beginning to panic. She begins to hyperventilate and she starts crying, seeming like she is having a panic attack. The choking continued so I ran over to her to calm her down. "Tenebris! Calm down!" I state.

"I….(Gasp)...I…(Chokes). I CAN"T BREATH!"

I put my arms on her shoulders and begin to shake her, hoping it will calm down. She keeps on choking and sputtering and gagging about something. Her eye looks like it's about to pop out of her skull in a fit of panic. I have no idea what to do and I have no other options. I guess that I have to try what I did on Leon. I straighten my hand and slap her in the face. A red mark is left on her face and she still keeps gagging. I run to the door and sprint down to the showers and get a glass of water and immediately run back. A gust of high wind hit my back due to the speed and I splash the water in her face. She stops gagging and falls to the ground and starts crying.

"Primm what was that? Are you ok?" She breathes deeply and slowly stands up. "Nothing. Let's just get breakfast."She says quietly. She walks away and I know there is something up with her. "What happened?" She says nothing and walks out the door with her disheveled uniform and slams the door.

Was she having some kind of panic attack? I've seen some episodes in my life but that seemed pretty bad. Like I've said before, I don't know a too terrible amount about Tenebris, but I've never seen her act like that before. I have had a couple panic attacks in my day, but hers just seemed kind of sudden. I don't know why she would freak out over her uniform being messy. Maybe she's super self conscious, like how I am. But what was that thing she said "sir"? I button my jacket a bit more leaving a bit at the top open to show my vest and dress shirt. I wipe my hands on my suit to straighten out the wrinkles and walk outside to the door. A few students are staring down the hallway, heads peeking out of the doors and murmuring to each other as of what happened. I slowly close the door and pat down my pockets, making sure I have everything. Scroll, check, wallet,check and sanity, debatable.

I begin to speed walk down the hallway, running past everyone who was around me. I said a few,"Excuse Me's" and "Sorry's" as I pushed through the now small crowd in the hall. I call out for Tenebris's name a few times but no reply. One girl was standing outside the ladies showers, peering into the showers. "Excuse me, did a grey haired pirate come through here?" I ask. "Yeah, she's in one of the stalls."

I strafe through all of the toweled girls all gasping and staring at me. I notice some do not have tops on and I immediately become embarrassed. "Ten?!" I call out. "Fuck off for a second, Seraek." Tenebris replies in the distance. The sound of her voice came from a stall and I kneeled outside the door. I hear the sounds of retching and vomiting as if she is sick. "You Ok?" I ask. "Oh, just as fine as you were when those bimbos told you off." she replies pathetically. "Just leave me alone. I'll find you and Leon later. (Cough) Also, this is the ladies room and I think you should get out of here before you die of an nose bleed." My face gets hot by her remark and notice that there are about a dozen disheveled girls wearing towels looking at me in horror. I smile widely and glue my face to the floor, walking away while trying to find the exit out of the shower room. As I walk back to the exit, I hear murmurs of the girls saying typical scared girls would say in the situation. "What a perve! Get out of here, creep." My stomach begins to feel a bit sick again, almost making me wish that me and Tenebris can share the toilet; as gross as that sounds.

I walked out of the showers and I felt a runny sensation under my nose. I swear to god, if that is blood I will kill something. I wipe my nose and a trickle of blood runs down my fingers. Fuck. I could still hear the murmuring and the whispering of the girls back in the locker room , when I started to hear a bit of giggling. At First I just thought it were the girls insulting me but then I started to hear some compliments within the giggles. "He's pretty cute. I think he seems ok. Didn't he kill that guy? He's a psycho, keep your distance." To be fair, amongst all the insults, I heard a few compliments that made me blush. Maybe there might be a nice girl coming my way, but for now Seraek be hungry..

I made my way out to the cafeteria hall and this morning they appeared to be serving pancakes, as they normally do. The lunch room was its own large building that was about as big as a warehouse. I remember how crowded this place would normally get but most of the time I would follow Callisto around to our table. This year, it appears that there aren't as many kids as there were when I was a first-year. One benefit that I could think of was that most of the students were already at the tables since it was already 7:30, so this meant that the lines were insanely short. I walked up to a line that had about ten or so people and I noticed a bulletin board that had a list of everything that was available for breakfast. One thing that I absolutely love about the lunch room is that you can order pretty much whatever you want but we all know that pancakes are what everybody wants.

I have no idea what kind of crazy black magic spell those lunch ladies used to make them but goddamn are they good! I laid out my tray and a young blond-haired lunch lady threw down five cakes on my tray and I immediately started to salivate. There was an abundance of a sweet and savory aroma that just made my nose twitch due to the smell of the cinnamon syrup that just made me want to jam my face in the cakes. I moved along out of the line and began my search for Leon and Tenebris. To me it was virtually impossible to find them due to the sea of people at the tables. I pull out my phone and text Tenebris to ask her where she is.

Within twenty seconds, she responded and she said that Leon and her were sitting near the East entrance. I made my way there and found them sitting. I slammed my tray down on the table and immediately started stuffing my face with delicious pancakes without a second thought. I finish my tray within a minute and gulp down my orange juice, realizing that I forgot to truly eat the pancakes.

Leon is scribbling inside of a notebook while slowly chewing his food, while Tenebris is white as a ghost staring at her tray. I realize that I have another carton of OJ and slide it over to her to make her feel better. She quickly yoinks the carton and gulps it down.

"Feel any better?"

"Yeah."

"Orange Juice makes me feel good."

"Not me, I guess I screwed up back there?"

"Screwed up what? Your uniform?"

"Yeah, my teacher would ream my ass if my uniform wasn't perfect."

"What a douche."

"He had a reason to be mad at me. I was disorganized and I needed to be punished. Those preppy fucks would sometimes not wear their uniforms right and they would get nothing. (Sighs) Maybe he wanted to make a better example of me."

"I dunno, were you a good student?"

"I tried. No matter what, he would find something that I messed up on."

"Well, fuck him. You're here now and I know that the professors here are not bad guys."

Tenebris begins to eat her food and stares off into the window, blissfully trying to enjoy her food.

"Let's not talk about this any more, Ok Seraek?"

"Ok."

"That goes for you too Leon."

"Yeah, I remember Lieutenant. Nero was not a nice guy."

"No, it was Mr. Nero, Leon. He didn't have a rank at least as far as I know."

I see that Tenebris seems to be more quiet and collected when she mentioned her teacher. Maybe he used to beat her, that's probably how she got her scar. No, she mentioned it had something to do with her dad. I dunno, I'll just let it be.

After about another half-hour of waiting, we all headed to our classes.

My first hour was Combat Discipline and I hated it. Combat is just simply two forces trying to kill each other. I don't understand how there is supposed to be a type of dignity to fighting; a fight is a fight. It doesn't matter how fancy you look or act; what matters is staying alive. I tried to make note of any students that stood out to me. When I was younger, I would always look for students that I thought looked funny. It would give me an excuse to talk to people. Most of the time, it would blow up in my face. I was the last one to walk in and I saw her: Glynda. She stood near her desk looking disapproving at me whilst holding her clipboard.

"Late on the first day, I presume? What is your statement, Seraek?" She asks menacingly.

Son of a bitch, I'm not even at school for ten minutes and she is already complaining to me about something. Well, I guess I just have to give the boilerplate response. Kiss some ass so she'll leave me alone.

"I have none, ma'am. I am still getting used to the school...again."

She looked up at the clock and it read 9:30 A.M. exactly.

"Time is definitely a valuable asset, but it cannot be used if it is wasted."

"What do you mean? The bell hasn't rung yet." I asked.

"If you are early, you are on time, if you are on time, you are late and if you are late, you get detention, Mr Branwen. Now, I do not hold grudges, but I wish to express that I will be watchful of you after what has happened on the transport ship."

"I understand, ma'am. I do not wish to cause trouble. I am already in hot water anyways."

"Duly noted. Have a seat, Seraek."

A glazed, but stern look came from her as I made my way to an open seat. The right most side of the lecture hall held the seats but the majority of the room was a large open stage used for medium sized formations. Glynda likes her formations, probably because she takes discipline to the next level. I remember that there were days that we would just stand in formation for the whole class period and not say a word.

If anyone made a peep, they would have to do push-ups for the remainder of class.

Glynda made her way to her desk and pulled out some papers and attached them to her clipboard. I do have to admit, for a teacher that is a constant stick in the mud, she is kind of cute. I guess in the "super serious on outside and super soft on the inside" way. The glasses are also kind of a kicker for me. Her aromic sense of intelligence is quite attractive as well. Bah, I'm getting full of myself.

"Attention, huntsmen." She announced. "Today will be a simple day, for some of you new ones. I wish to express my gratitude for the new ones and for some who have returned." She walked into the center of the open stage. "There is something that I wish to address to you students. I accept nothing lower than perfection. Combat in essence is an art form. When it is sloppy, you lack understanding of proper form and technique. Things like this will lead to your demise. When it is sharpened, you will statistically be more likely to succeed."

Her posture became more statured and she gazed longingly into the large window on the left side of the hall.

"I wish for all of you to gather up and make a simple eight by four rectangle here on this stage. There are exactly thirty two of you in this class. Shortest in the front, Tallest in the rear. This exercise is to teach you what I expect in this class. I expect responsibility, professionalism, discipline, and class. These four will be paramount to your success in this class. You will have formation on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays will be lectures. Every other week, there will be a written quiz of the lectures on Fridays. I have four tests that are prepared for the end of each chapter. Do not count on extra credit in this class. Your test scores are 85% of your final grade in this class. Does anyone have any questions?"

Not a sound was made by the recently clamoring students.

"Good." She replied.

"Everyone form up."

All of us immediately followed her previous instructions and made a rectangle in the span of fifteen seconds.

It wouldn't be so bad if she were to talk about stances or stands or something. Usually when you use a stance, you can use the weight of your body and the angles you face for better attacks and defence. No, Glynda literally has us stand in a perfect formation for a solid thirty minutes. To a teenager, that is torture. I don't mind waiting for something, but this is just ridiculous. At least I get to look at all of the students that are in my class. While the formation is up, I look around for Leon and Tenebris. I saw neither of them, sadly. There weren't very many other students of note. A faunus here, a red head guy there, y'know the usual. Wait, that sounds off.

I was also on the lookout for that assface that was on the ship. I don't know, but I feel like if he were to see me again, another fight would break out. I'll try to do what Oz told me and I hope it won't happen again.

Second was Survival and Thriving with Ozpin. The class was essentially over things that you are to find in environments for strength and food. Y'know actual useful shit that I can use. He mentioned that it's not just wooded areas and deserts. It can be urban environments too, like cities and neighborhoods. One cool thing that he said was, "If by some chance there is a chance that your team will get lost, make sure beforehand to make an RZ point for your teammates. An RZ is a fortified, but discreet area where you can go back to if you happen to be overrun. You never know, running from a fight is sometimes a good option."

Third was Grimm Anatomy with Professor Port. Nothing really of note sadly. It's just old Port and his antics , same old shtick again. It's odd that someone as innocent and hilarious as this guy can be trained to kill monsters and It's even more funny when he says that headshots are not always the best shot. Sometimes letting them feel pain is a lesson to tell them to not fight you again.

Fourth Period was pretty interesting though. I saw him, that guy was at the bottom of the row just staring at the ceiling with his feet kicked up. Port did slap his shoe to tell him to stop getting dirt everywhere. The guy just stared at him. He asked him again and he slowly set his feet down. Class just resumed as normal and he was left off with a warning. He had bandages all over his face, almost enough to call him a mummy. He seemed a lot more calm than he was on the ship. I guess me kicking his ass taught him a lesson. Aside from the run in,

Fifth Period Situational Study is basically situational awareness, like things you should look for and hear before a fight starts. He said that there are three different types of phases to a situation in general. Perception. Comprehension and Projection. What you see, what you remember and how you react. This is stuff that I could honestly never really think of, I could have used that for what I ate for breakfast. How many pancakes I had, why did they disappear and how I felt sad that there was nothing left.

Sixth Period was my chance to practice a bit on an instrument that I liked. I love the drums. I know that it doesn't really take that much skill to play the drums, but in my opinion, it's one of the harder instruments due to you having to play in a very precise rhythm. I love slammin' those sticks on the heads and making the most fire-ass beats. Personally, music is a very beautiful thing that I think shouldn't be used as a weapon. Music is for making people feel good or helping people through tough times. An art dedicated to stimulating the hearing of the needy. That is why I disagree with using music as a weapon. Yes, anything can be a weapon, but just leave music alone. I saw Leon play the guitar he was assigned.

He told Oobleck that his guitar can be played as both a weapon and instrument. Oobleck agreed and he got to shred on the guitar. He said that his guitar has a built-in amp so he doesn't have to hook it up to anything. Within a fraction of a second, he could start playing an ear melting solo that sounded like a symphony of a thousand screaming demons crying for salvation; whatever that means. People came to crowd him and ask him how he did that.

He would answer the same he did to me, "Practice." I asked Leo dozens of times to show me something on his guitar and he never would show me a solo. It doesn't make sense that a guy who is eighteen can play at over two thousand notes in one minute. It's inhuman, maybe he's a prodigy or a god.

Seventh was Marksman training, just a gun range with practice rifles and pistols. Nothing of note.

Eighth hour was my study period with Oz. There weren't many other kids there aside from Tenebris. She didn't seem sad anymore from this morning, but she never talked to me. She deserved to have a day alone I guess. Oz was taking a roll call and he asked, "Cyzra Kaliah? (No response) I guess Miss Kaliah is still on her vacation. Hopefully for not too long." My heart sank a little bit because it almost seems like Oz knows what we are up to.

I did realize that there is such a thing as being able to go off campus, but it seems like Ozpin wants me to not be away so I'm causing trouble. I don't know how the hell I'm gonna be able to pull this off without him noticing that I was off campus. Maybe I can break it to him that I am doing a good deed. I don't know why I feel this, but I just want to make him happy. It just feels good that someone has faith in you for being someone with a "Gift." I'll find a way somehow. I feel terrible for what I said about Cyzra to Tenebris. Maybe she really is a good how am I gonna deal with her? I may be a bad guy, but I hope that I can become better.

Later on after school, I walked over to my dorm with all of the notes that I took in class. The notes were one sticky note with the words. "I need some wings and don't die." were written on the paper.

I walked over to my locker and I noticed that on the bench in the hallway, the guy was sitting there typing on his scroll. The only way to my dorm was at the end of the hallway, which led me in the sight of him.

I walk casually to the door and he sticks his leg out to trip me and I stop immediately.

"Damn, I hoped that would work. I see you were acting like a good little student."

"I…"

"Before any more bullshit comes out of your hole, I want to make something clear; what you did to me impressed me. Hell, it amazed me. But, just because I'm impressed doesn't mean I'm gonna let you off the hook. I swear to god I will kill you by the end of the year."

I realized that his voice sounded a lot more composed and there was definitely less slurring and drooling. The bandages on his face were fresh and you can make out parts of his mouth and his one eye. I guess a lot of the broken glass sliced the shit out of his face. I gained a little bit of confidence and I said

"That's a tall order, you want to make a bet?"

"Yeah? What's the bet?"

"If you kill me, you get to take my sword. I kill you, I take your…."

Words left me. I had no idea what I was about to tell him. I was so over confident that I completely disregarded what I wanted to say.

"My what? My arrowhead collection? My stapler? My virginity?"

"I'll take your bat." I responded.

He scoffed and asked, "That's it? I expected more."

"I won't kill you. I'll beat you to the inch of your life in front of the whole school."

"Won't you get kicked out?"

"I won't, it'll happen at Vytal."

He stands up and adjusts his jacket collar and walks away to the door. While grabbing the handle he states, "You're on."

Chapter Eight: Are We Really Doing This?

The first week of school wasn't really anything special to say the least. It's really funny how a few days could go as fast as the snap of your fingers. For me it felt pretty average; I'm just happy I didn't have to take any tests or retarded pop quizzes. I guess the closest thing we had to a test was a test practice at the shooting range in Marksman Training. It was a standard, "Point at a paper target and shoot the fuck out of it."

I haven't been at a range for a while and I scored a 279 at 50 yards which is pretty ok for a pistol. Pistol ranges anywhere from 40 to 100 yards. .44 caliber are effective at about 65 yards which is pretty far for a dinky little gun. My guns have given me a pretty big wake-up call because the flip-up recoil on them is pretty wacked out. Damn things almost fly out of my hands even though they are heavy enough to stop a 150mm Howitzer. Oobleck gave me a pointer on holding a revolver, that I need to hold out the gun with one arm and wrap my free hand around my wrist to prevent injuries.

On Friday, Ozpin pulled me aside and he seemed to be dying to talk to me for the last week. It almost seemed like he was a giddy dog waiting for dinner. I don't think I have ever seen Oz act like this before and I was about as excited as he was to talk to me.

"Seraek, how have you been? It seems like you went a whole week without starting a ruckus. I am happy for your sanity."

"Thanks, I guess? I never claimed to be much of a troublemaker before."

"That wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, although frankly, everyone has their own views."

"What's the matter?"

"You might hate me for this, but I know of your plan. Your plan to help out your teammate."

My heart immediately sank, Sank lower than I could ever, ever imagine; as if my heart was ripped from my chest and out of my ass, I'm so screwed, I'm SO FUCKED.

"Seraek, relax. I understand these time are tough and you have had trouble finding a new member." Ozpin reassures.

*Large inhale* Oh gods. That was a save if I could have ever seen it.

"Oz, can we talk about this somewhere else? I feel embarrassed even thinking about it." I ask.

"Suit yourself. Now since I've gotten this ordeal out our way, Let's head back to class, Seraek."

Oz leads me to the door and courteously opens it for me. I look back at the class and I notice Tenebris frantically swiping her hand across her neck, signaling me to please stop. I continue on my exit and Oz takes me out in the hall.

"Ok. You have my attention, Seraek. Explain to me why this is exactly what I didn't want you to do?"

"Oz you know about this, but do you know the details? What did Leon and Tenebris tell you?"

"They told me while I was interviewing them that they needed a final member and there were no other candidates."

"Yeah, you didn't make them go to the landing strategy. Why?"

"I noticed that they seemed to work well with you. I figured that since you have re-enrolled in my school, you should be with students that you knew. Like I said before, you are the first student who has had a two year summer vacation. I had no other choice. It seems like my choice is made by bad judgement."

"You don't get it Oz. This is serious. We think that she is in some serious fuckin' danger."

"First off, language Seraek, Two, that is the whole problem. You and your friends are going to be in the same heap of trouble as Cyzra. I hear that she is working for Blackstone and the way Leon described it is that she is an...escort. At least that was the nice way of putting it."

"He doesn't know that. The only reason why he knows is that he competed in the junior huntsman course against her and he sort of stalked her and found out what happened to her. He supposedly has a friend that works there and he gave him info and he thought that me and Ten were the most capable that he knew."

Oz sighs and puts his hands on his face. He then puts his hand on my shoulder and he clears his throat.

"Seraek, I want you to promise me something. Of all the faith that I have invested in you, I want this to be a test. A test of your strength and your fortitude. You and your friends have a week to complete your mission to help Miss Kaliah and I will excuse you from your classes. If you fail or she dies, I will inform the police about your name and your crimes."

My whole body went numb and I slumped to the ground. I feel cold everywhere and it hurts to move. It almost feels like someone shot me in the spine and I went cripple.

"Oz you can't do this...my future depends on this."

"I know. I figure that you, Leon and Tenebris are well versed in your knowledge of the streets. Leon and Miss Primrose are from Atlas Academy, a school for military trained huntsmen. I would say that you are in good hands. Like I said, this is a test. This will show me if the faith that I had invested has any worth."
My chest begins to feel warm, simply because he gave me the confidence.

". I accept your test."

"That's the Seraek I remember!" Ozpin exclaims. "."

…

Ozpin and I walk back into the classroom and I take my seat. I pull out my scroll and begin to add a deadline to my calendar a week from now. Ok, I have 167 hours and 58 minutes to get this shit done and I have no room to fuck around. I have to speedrun this mother; I need to prove to Oz that I can defeat his retarded challenge.

Wait, what am I thinking? A life is at stake here and I am treating it like it's a game, damn it. Why can't I come to care about this woman. What the fuck is wrong with me?

Maybe it's just that I don't know her and I am risking my teammates' lives for her. I have to realize that she is crucial to my team's success at the school and she is not some dumb prostitute. But, One thing is for sure; How did she get captured? If she was a trained huntress, how come she didn't massacre the assholes who kidnapped her? Especially if she was a higher up in the JHC. (Junior Huntsman Course) It just doesn't make any sense!

My scroll begins to buzz and I check it to see who is texting me. It's Tenebris and I think it has something to do with what me and Oz discussed outside.

Ten- What did Oz-man tell you?

-He already knows about what we are up to.

There is no reason for us 2 hide anymore.

Ten-Well i'm just glad that we aren't gonna get kicked out.

-That's a problem

Ten- Wot is it?

-Oz gave us a week to find Cyzra and get her back to the school.

And if we don't find her, I'm getting incarcerated and going to jail.

Ten- FUCK!

Ten-We have to find her NOW!

Ten-I'll get Leo ready 2 go

-I know this sound nuts, but I had another idea that I was going to tell u guys at the meeting.

Ten- What was it?

-I got a message from some guy named Sterling and he said that he knows what we are doing too.

Ten- That dude from the note?

Ten-How the hell did u figure out his name?

-The sentences in the note if read left to right, the first letters spelled his name.

Ten-You are fucking kidding me?

Ten- that is how you figured out his name?

-Yee, also you can write in paragraphs, dummy.

Ten- First off, why the hell did you not tell me, Second, what was your plan?

-I wanted to make a deal with Maelstrom

That I could work for him and maybe get you guys to join me.

Ten- WHAT?! What the holy fuck is wrong with you?

That guy is a registered pedophile and a human trafficker suspect and you want to work for him?

Do you know anything about the guy? LIke at all?

-I do know that he was a company owner before. And he is rich as hell.

Ten- Seraek, do you have any clue what that means?

I'm starting to think that you could give a damn les about us. You want to work for that scumbag and throw away your life for him.

Fuck you, man. You have to be joking.

-That wasn't really my plan...

Ten-

Follow the plan that you and I and Leon made.

We'll all die if you mess this up.

There is no room for house calls for this.

If you don't want Cyzra to join us, then me and Leo will do It ourselves.

-I forget who is supposed to be the leader here.

Meet me at the dock, I am ready for anything.

I am ready for this whether I like it or not.

Fuck it, Let's go.

Ten- You are our leader; I just want you to just be a good person about this S

Don't fuck this up.

-Are we doing this? Or not?

Ten- You really want to do this?

-Meet me at the docks

See ya

…

Chat has ended.