Aaaaaaand I'm back! Ish. I finished this chapter a few weeks ago, but I've held off from releasing it so I could get a few things in order. At the time of writing this note, I technically haven't started actually writing again, but I wanted to at least put this out there.

Quick warning going in for those who've been reading before this chapter was published: Certain things in this chapter might seem a touch off from what you would expect, though I don't really know if you'll even notice. As I said in my hiatus note, this story was frustrating me pretty badly and I wanted to reevaluate what I was doing with the story and characters. Basically, what that boiled down to was thinking about what was bothering me about them, figure out what I wanted to do to correct that, then go back and rewrite the previous chapters.

Now, before you freak out, I didn't actually rewrite everything. All I really did was go back through and tweak some things here and there, and even then it ended up being less than I thought it would be. It gave me a good perspective on the story, though, that I hope will be a benefit in the long run. Anyway, most of what I changed was just character stuff, but there are really only two things of note: Aspen's fighting style is more brute force than outright mimicry (I was never really happy with that choice), and Ilex, while still a prick, actually has something resembling a motivation (though it still hasn't been fully revealed).

That aside, I hope you enjoy the chapter!


Buzzing.

That was the only way Aspen could describe what she was feeling. The previous night had been calm, for the most part, after… whatever had happened, but when the morning came and the students began to wake up and all the other people began to arrive from the city, their emotions began to press against her in a way they hadn't before. Constant shifting and moving, pushing her in a different direction every second. It might have been easy to ignore if it hadn't been for the pain, like a thousand needles pressing through her flesh into her bones. Even then, though, it was all just a persistent distraction, something she could put aside with sufficient focus.

No, the true cause of Aspen's current woes was one person—one single aura—calling to her from somewhere far away. She wasn't sure how far away they were, only that it was further than she had ever felt a single aura without straining before. She couldn't even tell who it was coming from, yet it tore away at her insides and left her feeling empty. It was strong enough to interrupt her meditation, and even now it pushed against her, urging her to come find it and snuff it out, to fill herself back up with its strength. She didn't want to.

So, Aspen had attempted to ignore it, setting herself to work on her armor. It wasn't until some time had passed that she realized she had only sat in front of it, teeth grinding against one another and hands curled tightly into fists. Her nails had dug into her palms, resulting in the fading black scars she bore now. That had been her breaking point. Casting her chair aside, she had rushed out of the room to trace the aura across campus. She could have gone out to the forest, gotten as far away from this person as she could until it just went away. She should have done that; the closer she had drawn, the worse the feeling of emptiness got. Instead, she raced through halls and courtyards, ignoring the annoyed comments of those she brushed past on her search.

So it was that Aspen found herself in front of a door, fingers wrapped tightly around the handle. The door looked like most other doors in the school, but behind it was the aura that had been torturing her all morning, one that felt of still-warm coals of an old fire and the fine grains of a beach she had never seen. Yang Xiao Long. She wanted nothing more than to tear the door of its hinges and rip the girl apart, but— No, she didn't want that; she craved it. There was a difference. She just… She just couldn't think of what it was at the moment. She need to… let go.

Releasing the handle with a creak, Aspen backed away from the door. Control. She needed control. It took all of her strength just to back away, fighting the impulse to throw herself forward. Why is this happening? Needed… something… real. Ground herself. Needed—

Whirling across the hall, the girl threw her fist into the opposite wall. The stone fractured and something in her hand broke, pain shooting up into her arm as she slumped to her knees. Real pain. She focused on that, using it to tether herself and clear her mind. I know this hall. She stood up again, looking around as her bones healed themselves. Just a few doors down had been where she'd been taken after her fight with the Ruby Team. Why is Yang up here? And why is—

The door opened inward with a click, and a man stepped out. Under Yang's overpowering aura, she hadn't sensed him, but now that she was more aware of her surroundings, she could feel him as well, like feathers and rust. He was around Oliver's height, with graying black hair pushed back over his scalp. She stopped on his red eyes. Could he be rephaim? No, it was impossible; he had an aura. Neither she nor Deirean had one—not like the humans and faunus, anyway. And yet…

The man eyed her suspiciously and, behind him, Aspen could see Yang sitting at a table, much like she had before. Noticing where her attention had drifted, the man reached behind him and pulled the door closed. As it clicked shut, he looked down at the handle beneath his grip and Aspen followed his gaze. The metal was warped and dented, and she knew it had been because of her. The man let out a soft "Huh" before turning his head back to her. "So, you're Aspen?" Aspen narrowed her eyes but nodded, unsure how he knew her name and finding it difficult to maintain her focus as the pain in her hand receded.

The feathery man reached up to scratch at the hair on his jaw, glancing down the hallway. Aspen was vaguely aware of the man's uncertainty and suspicion, a minor stinging compared to everything else she was feeling. She looked back at the door. There was so much pain—so much fear and loneliness—that she felt like she was drowning in it. Was that possible? She felt like it might've been.

"Hey, did you hear me?" The man was snapping his fingers in front of her face, and she immediately swatted them away. How long had she lost focus for? Not long, she guessed. "I asked you what you were doing here." His eyes were hard, accusing. He wasn't mad, though, not really.

Aspen lowered her gaze to the floor, gritting her teeth as a wave of heat tore through her body. "I… I want the pain to stop." Blood pooled in the palms of her hands, fingers unconsciously digging into her still-fresh scars.

She felt the man's gaze move over her, then heard him sigh. "C'mere," he slurred, heading for another door not far from the one Yang was behind. Latching onto his aura to ground herself, Aspen followed after him, reaching out to determine who might be in this second room. She needn't have bothered, as the feathery man opened it before she could identify anything substantial besides the fact that there were two people there. It was so hard to focus…

She knew the first man, and seeing him did little to improve Aspen's mood. Ozpin had one eyebrow raised as he glanced between her and the feathery man, his chalky aura already leaving her skin feeling dry. The other person was someone she hadn't met before, a tall, black-haired man dressed in white and gray with a strip of metal embedded into the flesh above his right eyebrow. His aura felt like a weathered stone wall, cracked and broken with age. His blue eyes narrowed as he focused on her. "Crow," he said carefully, "what is she doing here?"

Crow, as he seemed to be named, crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Found her standing outside. Seemed a little… overwhelmed by all the emotion, so I figured I'd bring her over rather than just leave her out on her own."

Ozpin tilted his head back for a moment before bringing it forward again in a nod. "I see. Thank you, Crow." The feathery man huffed and looked away, while the Headmaster turned his attention to the rephaite. "Aspen, this is James Ironwood," he said, gesturing toward the stony man who was looking down at her impassively. "James is the Headmaster of our sister school in Atlas, as well as a General in their army."

Sister? Aspen briefly wondered how a school could have siblings, but the thought was quickly drowned out by the pain from Yang's aura. The men continued talking in the background, but all she heard was something about 'Qrow with a Q.' I shouldn't… I shouldn't be here. I need to leave—

Her trance was interrupted as a hand gently touched the back of her shoulder. She jumped, pulling away just enough to break contact. Crow—Qrow still held his arm out, a complicated frown on his face. He was surprised, uncertain, but also… concerned. Red eyes scanned over her, as if inspecting her for weakness. Red eyes so much like her own, like Deirean's…

"Perhaps we should continue this somewhere else?" Ozpin said.

James took a step forward. "Ozpin, I know you said this girl was special, but there are more important matters at hand. If there's something you're not telling me…"

The chalky man sighed. "Of course. If she is to be believed—and I see no reason why she should not be—Aspen has the ability to sense a person's emotions; feel their soul, if you will. Unfortunately, as I understand it, these emotions cause her a great amount of pain and can compromise her ability to act rationally. With Miss Xiao Long in the state she is, I imagine Miss Gray is currently in a great deal of distress. Is that correct, Aspen?"

Aspen, having found herself staring through the wall to where Yang sat in the other room, turned her head to look at the man. His eyes were honest, and she could feel no deceit in his aura. Then again, she knew everything he had said to be true, so it was less about honesty than it was about intent. With her mind as fogged as it was, she couldn't think of any alternative meaning to his words, so she simply nodded. Distress

Despite the explanation, however, the Headmaster from "Atlas" didn't move. "That still doesn't answer my question."

Aspen didn't recall him asking a question, but Ozpin didn't seem to pay attention to that matter. "I understand your concerns, James, but I'm afraid there simply isn't the time for a thorough explanation right now, and this certainly isn't the place. Whether this incident was caused by stress or somehow perpetrated by our enemies, festival security should be our top priority. Should something like this happen again, it could prove disastrous." James's posture relaxed, just enough to show his acquiescence, and Ozpin looked to Qrow. "I'm sure Miss Xiao Long is as anxious to see her team as they are to see her. For the time being, though, I think it would be best for her to stay in her dorm room, and I'll have Glynda send someone to speak with her."

On Ozpin's lead, the men began to file out of the room, revealing a screen behind the General. As Aspen looked at it, she could see that it showed the room Yang was in. She had her head down on the table, and her body seemed to be shaking. Amid the golden locks, Aspen could make out a pair of cuffs similar to the ones she had worn, albeit not attached to the girl's wrists. Two armed men stood on either side of the door, weapons drawn but not aimed at Yang. It was all too familiar to Aspen, and the hair on her neck began to stand on end.

"Aspen." The girl tore her eyes away from the screen to look at the source of the voice. Ozpin stood outside the room, one hand on his cane and the other extended toward her. "If you could come with me, please."

Aspen wasn't sure how she ended up in the hallway, only becoming aware of it when the pain from Yang's aura suddenly receded to be replaced by a feeling of warmth. Stopping in her tracks, she turned to look behind her. Several doors down, she saw Qrow escorting Yang from her room. Lilac eyes met crimson and, in that instant, Aspen felt weightless. It was as if all the pressure she had been feeling since Vacuo suddenly vanished, taking all her strength with it.

Grief and hope. In some ways, such contrasting emotions. One an expression of loss and sorrow, the other an expectancy of better things to come. How the two could coexist in a single person confounded the rephaite and yet, as she looked into Yang's eyes, that was all she could see. When she looked back, much later, Aspen would realize that this was the moment when her understanding of life began to change.

Said moment didn't last long, and soon Qrow and Yang were moving away from her. Aspen stood dumbly as the pressure of hundreds of auras slowly crushed back down on her, bringing with it the piercing pain in her bones. Finally working up the strength of will to look away from the duo, she began walking in the opposite direction. Beside her, Ozpin matched her gait as she had suspected he would, but he surprised her by not speaking as he'd implied he'd wanted to. "What happened last night?" she asked, finally breaking the not-particularly-comfortable silence. If anyone would be able to tell her, it would be Ozpin.

Unfortunately, his first answer was far from satisfactory. "I had been hoping you would be able to tell me." Aspen furrowed her eyebrows and glared at the man, but was surprised to see his lips drawn in a tight line. "To be honest, we're still putting the pieces together ourselves. Following her match last night, Miss Xiao Long began acting rather… erratically, yelling and striking at thin air and suffering an apparent emotional breakdown. When it became apparent that she posed a threat to the other contestant, security stepped in to subdue her and, unfortunately, she lashed out at them as well."

He paused to look out a window, and Aspen joined him, though she didn't see anything of note. "Qrow had just finished speaking with her when you arrived. We had hoped to shed some light on the situation, but her testimony only raised more concerns." Aspen felt a brief spike of worry from the man, but it quickly faded into the background, remarkable given their proximity. "According to her, she saw Grimm in the arena and, what's more, she saw one of them kill her sister."

Blood flowing down rows of stands. A chill fell over Aspen as she recalled her hallucination just days before. Thousands of corpses, dead at her hands. She dug her nails into her hands once again, using the pain to block out the memory. "Why did you think I would know anything about it?"

Ozpin hummed thoughtfully. "I had simply wondered if you had felt anything unusual, whether with Miss Xiao Long or someone in the audience."

"No, I wasn't there," Aspen said, massaging the ragged black fibers in her palms. "All I felt was… I assume it was when she began acting 'erratically.' The entire coliseum, all their emotions… turned."

"I see." Silence fell once again. Closing her eyes, Aspen took the opportunity to probe Ozpin's aura. It was unusual just how little emotion she sensed in it for how powerful it was, almost as if he wasn't feeling anything at all. That was a possibility, she supposed, though as she considered it, it seemed more likely that he was suppressing them. The worry he'd felt had been intense, but short-lived. If that was what he was doing, then why?

"Aspen, I'm afraid I must ask a favor of you," Ozpin said, breaking the girl out of her thoughts. She felt remorse in his aura, though it soon vanished as his worry had before. "I can understand your reluctance to return to the colosseum, but I would like for you to attend the finals tonight."

A quiet hiss escaped Aspen's throat as she crossed her arms. "You want me there so see if I feel anything 'unusual.' You want to use me."

Ozpin sighed, a sound of frustration echoed briefly in his aura. "I wouldn't put it quite so bluntly, but yes." The man straightened up and looked her in the eyes. "You may not be aware of this, but the creatures of Grimm are attracted to negative emotions. Assuming your experiences extend to them, it may be more accurate to say that they are driven to snuff those emotions out, as you are. If another incident like yours or Miss Xiao Long's occurs, it might become too much for them to resist and cause them to attack."

Black hair fell from Aspen's shoulder as she looked away. He knows the Grimm are rephaim. She suddenly felt small, in much the same way as she had when she first met Deirean. She didn't like it. "We'll kill them."

"I wish it were that simple," Ozpin replied. He paused, nodding to a pair of passing students. The two briefly looked at Aspen and the Headmaster before continuing on, their nervousness stinging her skin. Once they were further away, the man continued. "Most of the people here for the tournament are civilians and have neither combat training nor unlocked Auras. Even with the number of Hunters and students that are here, it would be a slaughter if the Grimm attack. That is why it is our duty as Huntsmen and Huntresses to do whatever it takes to protect them, even if it requires sacrifice."

Aspen kept her head down. Unlocked? She wasn't sure what that meant in context, but she could guess. From what she could tell, Aura was the protective barrier humans and faunus used to keep themselves safe when fighting and, now that she thought about it, the ones who fought almost always had a stronger aura than the ones that did not. It stood to reason, then, that what she called aura was, in fact, the same Aura the humans referred to, and that this Aura had to be "unlocked" somehow.

"I think we both know we don't trust each other," Ozpin continued, despite her unwillingness to look at him. "Heaven knows we haven't given each other a reason to do so. My mistake was attempting to exploit your flawed understanding of what it meant to be a Huntress. You are a living being with free will, not some tool to be wielded against the Grimm, and I was wrong to treat you as such." Aspen lifted her head at the admission, watching as the man moved to stand in front of her. "You have great power, and what you do with that power is up to you, but I have a responsibility to protect my students from anything that might pose a threat to them, and that includes you."

Protect

"I'll do it." Aspen squared her shoulders, looking Ozpin in the eye. "I want to be stronger. I want to learn. If this is what I need to do to learn how to be a Huntress, then I'll do it, but you have to do something for me."

The man's brow arched inquisitively. "And what might that be?"

"Don't tell anyone what I really am."

Ozpin's posture shifted, all at once tensing and relaxing as he straightened. Lifting his free hand to his chest, he bowed forward ever so slightly. "You have my word."

Inexplicably finding herself uncomfortable with the gesture, Aspen turned away and crossed her arms again. "What do I do if I feel anything… 'unusual'?"

"General Ironwood is in charge of tournament security," Ozpin explained. "If anything seems out of the ordinary to you, call him on your scroll. I'll have his contact information added and notify him of our arrangement. Beyond that, you need not take any action." Aspen just nodded; it seemed simple enough. After several seconds of silence, the Headmaster hummed to himself. "Well, if you don't have any other questions, I have other matters I must attend to." He began to walk away but stopped after several paces to look back at her. Aspen met his gaze, taking note of the concern that lingered in his Aura. "Thank you, Aspen, and please keep yourself in check."

With a small huff, the girl turned to look out the window. There still wasn't anything of note, but it did offer her an opportunity to focus on her thoughts. Huntressess… They killed Grimm, yes, but that wasn't their job; their job was to protect people. The idea struck her as odd, and it took some digging through her own mind to realize why. To the rephaim, strength was paramount. To survive, one must be able to protect themselves, and so to require protection would mean death.

Things seemed to be different among the humans, though. Strength was consolidated among a small portion of the population, and this portion was dedicated to defending those without strength. It was a curious system that ran counter to the one that had been imprinted in her body and made little sense. Then again, there were millions of humans and faunus, and the rephaim numbered only two. Perhaps Mankind had done something right.

Releasing a breath, Aspen turned away from the window. She had a task to complete, and it seemed to her that beginning it as soon as possible would be in her best interest. There was only one problem:

How do I get to the colosseum from here?

(-)

Ilex leaned against one of the great stone pillars surrounding Beacon's main courtyard as his eyes roved over the faces of the other students passing through or otherwise milling about. Eventually he settled on a shorter girl with pale blonde hair, her gray-and-white uniform identifying her as a student from Atlas. She was walking alone, and the way she was looking more at the architecture than the other people indicated that that wasn't going to change. Well, not unless I change that.

Smirking to himself, Ilex straightened up and began walking toward his mark, only to be roughly grabbed by the arm as Carmine passed and dragged in a different direction. The faunus nearly yelped in surprise, hiding the unbecoming sound by clearing his throat. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked, prying his arm free of his partner's grip.

Carmine stopped to scan the area as if searching for something. He didn't even look at Ilex. "Do you know where Aspen is?" he asked, tone none too friendly.

Rubbing his arm, the white-haired teen eyed the other suspiciously. While he wouldn't normally give a second thought to Carmine acting like an ass, there was something about him that seemed just a little off. "What makes you think I would?" he asked in response, intentionally not answering the question.

The human turned his gaze toward him, eyebrow raised in incredulity. "You're obsessed with her," he said, hands turning outward by his sides as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I know you well enough to seriously doubt that you've just given up on trying to get her to acknowledge you with something other than aggression."

Ilex's mouth fell open at the accusation though, truth be told, there wasn't much he could do to argue against that point. "I am not obsessed with her!" he said indignantly. Carmine's eyebrow raised just a little higher, making the faunus realize just how loud his words had been. Glancing around at the few heads that had turned his way, he lowered his voice. "And I certainly don't need her validation."

Pale orange eyes rolled in their sockets as Carmine huffed in annoyance. "Gods, I already regret asking. Now, do you know where she is or not?"

With a grimace, Ilex turned his head away to avoid his partner's gaze. It would be easy just not to tell him, but he was just a little too curious to know what Carmine wanted with Aspen. "Fine," he grumbled. "She came by here a little while ago, heading toward the ferries to the colosseum."

"The colosseum?" the redheaded teen repeated skeptically. "Why would she be going there?"

"I don't know!" Ilex said defensively, gesturing with one hand to where he'd seen the vexing girl. "I would have asked, but as soon as I started walking toward her she looked at me this… look." It was a bit of a lie; he hadn't been planning on asking her why she was heading that way.

Carmine's eyebrow rose again. "Since when have girl's giving you a 'look' ever stopped you?"

Ilex shook his head. "You didn't see this one. It was…" He flexed one of his hands as he tried to think of the right word. "…benign."

The human sputtered. "Be—Do you even know what that word means?"

"Of course I know what it means!" Ilex snapped, crossing his arms. "That's what it was! Angry or neutral I could get, but this…" His eyes lost focus for a moment as he recalled the image, subconsciously biting his lip. "I swear, it was almost a smile." Sure it probably sounded ridiculous—the disdainful look Carmine was giving him seemed proof enough of that—but even just remembering it made the hair on the back of his neck and ears stand on end.

Carmine stared at him in disbelief for several seconds, mouth agape, before shaking his head with a growl. Without a word, he turned and began making his way toward the docks. Glad to be rid of his partner, Ilex turned to look for the girl he'd scouted out before. He was disappointed to see she had joined a small group of girls on the opposite side of the courtyard, one of whom he recognized. Damn it, Carmine, he growled to himself.

Even as the thought crossed his mind, however, another took its place: Why was Aspen going to the docks? She had shown zero interest in going to the tournament since they'd met, even when Rhys asked her. So what reason did she have to go now, then? Certainly not the finals; those had started last night and she had spent the evening working on her armor. The question nagged at him more than it should have, and eventually he relented and turned toward the docks. Damn it, Carmine!

They hadn't been separated more than a minute by the time Ilex decided to go after his partner, but it still took him a few more to catch up again. He found Carmine sitting on a bench, toying with his fancy goggles as he looked out at one of the docked ferries. Easing himself into the space next to the teen, Ilex squinted his eyes as he looked out to the same spot. Even with his keen vision, they were far enough away that he had difficulty making out faces, but Aspen's figure was easy enough to make out, as was the red cloak of the girl she was talking to.

He hummed to himself, finding it interesting that Aspen would be talking to Ruby Rose, of all people. Rather, he supposed Ruby talking to Aspen was the better way to put it. If rumor was to be believed, Aspen had wiped the floor with Team RWBY when she crashed their tournament match, so Ilex wouldn't have expected them to be on friendly terms. More than that, though, he wouldn't have even expected her to be going back to the colosseum so soon after what had happened the night before.

"And here you said I was the one obsessed with Aspen," Ilex said, breaking the always-tense silence with his partner. "At least I have the decency not to stalk the girls I go after."

As the faunus expected, Carmine's mouth curled into an offended snarl. "I'm not stalking her," he said, keeping his voice low.

"Funny, 'cause that's what it looks like from here. I'm betting you've got a magnification setting in those goggles, don't you?"

The human's lips thinned to a taut line. "I don't have to explain myself to you," he said, trying to avoid the subject.

Unfortunate for him. Leaning in, Ilex crossed his arms. "I disagree. You see, it kind of feels like you're butting in on my shtick." The comment managed to elicit a surprised glance from the redhead, and Ilex hid his internal grimace with a smirk. "I'm not dumb. I've got my reasons for what I do, but your thing is being a racist asshole. Last I checked, Aspen was human, so the question is, why are you suddenly so interested in her?"

Carmine continued to fix his partner with a sidelong look, somewhere between disdain and, dare Ilex say it, respect. After several moments, the redhead turned back to the ferries. "I don't think she's human," he said simply.

Rolling his eyes at the answer, Ilex sat back into the bench. A minute passed, and Aspen and Ruby were still talking to one another. "You know what they're talking about?" he asked.

A rush of air escaped Carmine's throat as he reached up to fiddle with his goggles, likely to adjust the magnifying zoom. "I don't know; I can't read lips. Where the hell is Rhys when you need him?"

Ilex knew it was a rhetorical question, but he couldn't help but give a suggestion, if just to prod the human a little bit more. "Probably…" he trailed off, eyes flicking over the crowd before settling on a familiar, raggedy shape. "Oh, right there," he said, pointing to the otter faunus. Carmine's head turned slightly to track him, and the two watched as their teammate walked up to Aspen and signed something. "What'd he say?" Ilex asked, not able to make out his hands.

Had he not asked, he figured he still would have gotten his answer as Aspen raised her arm and pointed directly at the two of them.

"He asked if she knew where you were," Carmine said with a hard edge of frustration.

Ilex frowned. How did she know we were over here? It wasn't as if they stood out among the other students, but she hadn't even hesitated to point at them. Had she actually seen them sit down from that far away? Maybe Carmine was right about her being a faunus after all…

With a sigh, the white-haired teen rose to his feet. "Well, it seems we've been made," he commented dryly. "Might as well head on over." He didn't bother to check if his partner followed suit as he made his way toward the dock, but the growl behind him suggested he had.

By the time they'd crossed about half the distance, Rhys had given up waiting and had run over to them. Ilex brushed him off as he attempted to ask a question, focusing instead on the situation he was walking into. Through the hair dangling in front of her face, Aspen fixed him with a cautious stare, hands in the pockets of her hoodie. It was almost reassuring, though Ilex could already feel his hairs standing on end again.

On the other hand, Ruby was glancing nervously between the four of them, and the faunus could guess why. Team RWBY had always existed in its own little world with Team JNPR, and while their interaction wasn't entirely exclusive, there wasn't much deviance. On top of that, it was easy to forget that Ruby was practically still a kid—a year younger than even Rhys—and while his teammate had no qualms about getting in people's faces, Ruby had always struck Ilex as the socially-awkward type.

Being at the forefront of the arriving party, the lemur faunus decided to take the initiative in the conversation. "Hey, Aspen," he said, flashing a smile at the girl. Her lips tightened into the beginnings of a scowl as she narrowed her eyes. "What're you up to?"

Aspen's expression actually softened at the question and, for a moment, she actually looked confused before refocusing her gaze. "I came here to go to the tournament," she explained, confirming his theory. "Ruby was here, and we started talking."

Turning his eyes to the younger girl, Ilex gave her a gentle smile. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he'd considered her for his… purposes at one point in time, but he'd decided that, as effective as she would be, involving her would go far beyond overkill. So, he kept himself respectable, as his parents had taught him. "Ruby Rose, right?" he asked, receiving a timid nod in return. "I don't believe we've ever been formally introduced." He extended a hand toward her as if to shake but, when she reached out her own, he took it by her fingers and lifted it once before releasing it. It was a little trick he'd picked up from his father, a way to subtly boost someone's perceived status by treating them like the royalty of old. Judging by Ruby's surprised expression, it had worked. "Ilex Jae; I'm on Aspen's team."

"Oh, r-right," Ruby stammered, glancing toward said girl whose expression had once again shifted to a mild confusion. If Ruby noticed, she didn't call attention to it. "She told me she had been put on a team, I just didn't realize it was you guys." Leaning around Ilex, she gave a small wave to the other faunus. "Hey, Rhys," she said, signing the "R" he used as the sign for his name. The faunus grinned and returned the greeting, and Ruby straightened up again. "So, what's your team name?"

Ilex opened his mouth to answer, but was only drawing a blank. "I don't…" He looked up as if to find the answer in the sky before turning to look at Carmine, who just shook his head. "We don't…" Ilex brought his gaze around to Aspen, but she just stared at him blankly. "We haven't been given a name yet," he finally answered. "The last few days have been a little… unusual."

Something changed in Ruby's eyes as she nodded dumbly, turning her gaze ever so slightly toward Aspen. "I kinda got that…" Interestingly enough, the older girl seemed to be avoiding looking at anyone, head tilted down to the ground.

Ilex frowned, unsure of what had just happened to elicit this sort of response. It sounded like Aspen had told Ruby what she had done in the forest, though why she had and why she seemed to be uncomfortable now were a mystery to him. The silence was starting to become uncomfortable, so the faunus spoke. "How's your sister doing?" he asked, hoping the topic wasn't too fresh.

Ruby's expression didn't change much as she lowered her eyes to the ground. "She says she'll be alright, that it was just stress, but… I don't really know for sure." Squeezing her eyes shut, she pulled her hood over head in what must have been an anxious habit. "I should go back to be with her. I shouldn't have left…"

Ilex's ears twitched agitatedly as he bit his lip. This was not the route he'd wanted the conversation to go down. Great. Now what do I

"Why did you, then?" Aspen asked suddenly, easing the burden of the conversation from Ilex.

The question was simple and perhaps a bit too forward, so the white-haired teen was shocked when it actually seemed to do the trick. Ruby's hands slipped from the fabric of her hood, allowing it to fall back as she lifted her head again. Her gaze wasn't focused on anything in particular, but Ilex couldn't help but note that it was directed back toward Beacon—toward Yang. "She didn't want me worrying over her." Her voice was quiet, but steady. "She said that she wanted me to enjoy myself and support my friends."

With a reassuring smile, Ilex rested a hand on her shoulder. "In that case, why don't we all head up and watch the tournament together?"

Ruby brightened and returned the smile. "We should probably get going then," she said, turning to head toward the ferry with Rhys.

Ilex took a moment to watch the pair, satisfied that he'd been able to help, even if just a little, before realizing that Aspen was still standing in front of him. Crimson eyes continued to fix him with a look of confusion and curiosity, bringing back his feeling of unease. He ignored it this time and flashed a smile at her, only for her to frown and walk away. "What?"


Now that this chapter is done…

Uggghhhhh this one was such a pain in the ass to write. I've scrapped scenes halfway through or changed their direction before, but this chapter… I literally have a document with everything I wrote for this chapter that didn't make the cut, and it's long enough to be its own chapter. Hell, most of that was a completely different version of this chapter, so that should give you an idea for why I wanted to rewrite everything.

Yeah, not much else right now. Trying some new stuff with how I write, see how that goes. Also, calling Ironwood by his first name is just… unnatural, but that's what Aspen would do, so consider the bullet bit.

Hopefully, it won't be a painfully long time before the next chapter comes out. Until then, au revoir!