"Is someone screaming?" Blake muttered. "Again?"
"Huh? What're you talking about?" Yang looked up from admiring the 'cute little pony' in her arms. "Wait, now I hear it! Is that coming from the sky?"
"—aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAA—"
Yang looked up. What appeared to be a falling red, white, black and yellow blob was the source of the screams. What an interesting mix of colors that was, she thought dully, mind not quite processing the sight.
"—AAAAAAAAAAA" THUD. "Owww...ugh..." The red-white-black-yellow amalgamation smacked into the dead center of the temple floor, lying in the middle of the relics like some bizarre human sacrifice.
"What." said Blake. The pair just stared blankly for a moment, until Yang spotted a very familiar looking curved blade on the ground. A small hand in a black sleeve was still holding its handle. No no no...
"RUBY!" Yang rushed towards her sister, as did Blake. As they got closer, Blake abruptly doubled over gagging and stumbled back, but Yang paid that no mind. "Ruby! Are you okay? Talk to me!"
"YEEEEEHAAAWW!" An orange-haired girl arrived on the scene, leaping off a disintegrating Ursa. "Aw...it's broken." Her eyes locked onto the people-pile in the middle of the temple. "AHH! ARE THEY DEAD?!"
"Nora, please..." a black-haired boy in green emerged panting from the trees. "Oh my...er, are they all right?"
"EW!" Ruby stirred, and pulled herself free of the mess. "Ew ew ew ew ew..."
"RUBY!"
"YANG!" Ruby yelled, then noticed the relics on pedestals. "Oh my gosh! Guys, we landed right in the temple! I told you jumping was a good idea!"
"Yeah...that was great." A male voice groaned. Vomit Boy himself crawled out of the heap. And that was when Yang noticed the smell. And the unpleasantly colored stains that were staining the floor, and Vomit Boy's armor, and Ruby's cape...
"Oh my gods!" Yang pulled back from her attempt at a sisterly hug just in time. "Geez, you really outdid yourself this time, huh Vomit Boy? Guess I should feel lucky you only got my shoes."
"My name's Jaune..." the boy complained, and dry heaved some more.
Yang recognized the last two people in the pile now, and wow, did Ruby find some interesting company. The Ice Queen and Ice King too? The Schnee twins didn't exactly project pride and dignity in their present condition, however.
"I don't believe this!" Sable raged at Vomit Boy, trying to wipe his face clean with his sleeve. He looked torn between wanting to throttle the other boy, and not wanting to go anywhere near him. "How? HOW?! It's everywhere! Gods damn you!"
"YAY! REN, THEY'RE ALIVE!" Nora shouted happily, and skipped off. Screams of "queen in the castle" could be heard in the background.
"Get off me...and lose some weight..." Weiss Schnee sighed, thousand-yard stare in her eyes. Yang winced at the sight of the heiress. The vomit stains really stood out on her formerly pristine dress and hair. Yang's own hair hurt in sympathy just looking at it, and hair didn't even feel pain.
And to add the cherry on top, a red-and-bronze missile came sailing across the floor to headbutt Sable right in the face. Yep, that was Pyrrha Nikos, four-time Mistral Tournament champion, in the flesh, and apparently the target of a very large and angry scorpion. That wasn't a good sign. Not at all.
"NOT AGAIN!"
"I'm sorry!"
"Whoa." said Jaune, awestruck. "Is she dressed as the Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes girl?"
"Ahem." Ren (apparently the name of the less shouty dark-haired boy) said calmly. "I hate to interrupt, but we should probably do something about this." He indicated the giant scorpion monster that was still advancing on their position.
"Alright guys! Let's do this!" Ruby said in a determined tone. "RUBY! ROSE!" And before anyone else could move, a trail of rose petals was rocketing at the Death Stalker.
"Oh Gods." said Ren. "She just ran in..."
Ruby charged up to the Death Stalker, scythe at the ready, but the Grimm casually swung a pincer and knocked her onto her rear.
"SAVE HER!" Nora shrieked. She fired something from her...hammer?...at the Death Stalker; the creature stopped briefly, lifting a claw to take the pink explosion, but then continued its march.
Thwip-thwip-thwip! A barrage of feathers cut off Ruby's retreat, pinning her cape to the ground as the Death Stalker advanced menacingly.
"Ruby, come back!"
"Are you brain-dead?! Cut it off!"
"Cut off my cape?! NEVER! AAAAAHHH!"
Before the golden stinger could hit home, a white blur raced out, and the giant tail was suddenly frozen to the ground.
"Ruby..." Weiss said tiredly. The girl looked intently at her partner, as if preparing a lengthy lecture, but settled for a one-sentence summary. "That was dumb."
"Oh...thanks Weiss..." Ruby said, abashed. "At least my cape is okay..."
"And don't get me started on your sartorial choices! It's utterly impractical to wear that thing in combat—"
"Hey! Leave Crimson Rose out of this! And speaking of unpractical, what are those?" Ruby pointed at Weiss's shoes. "How can you even walk in those stupid things?"
"The Nevermore's circling back." Blake observed coolly, while Yang rushed forwards to hug her sister.
"Not again!" Sable complained...again.
"Ugh...look. Let's just grab our relics and leave." Weiss suggested. "I, for one, am so ready to be done with all this..."
"She's right!" Ruby rallied. "Our mission is to grab a relic and make it back to the cliffs. No point fighting these things."
With a suspicious glance at Nora (who was back to dancing around Ren, holding up her castle) Sable scooped up a golden knight identical to the one in Yang's pocket, leaving Ruby to take the rook that matched the hammer-wielder's. Pyrrha, without a partner of her own, picked up a golden pawn, frowning slightly.
"Let's go!"
And at Ruby's words, the nine Hunters-in-training filed out.
...wait a moment, Ruby was still covered in puke. And Yang had hugged her.
Ewww...
The great escape hit a snag, when it turned out a giant Nevermore could fly a bit faster than a bunch of teenagers could run. The Grimm that had caused so them much bother blocked the path once again, perched on a broken pillar and cawing. For a soulless abomination, the Nevermore sounded almost smug as it looked down its beak at them, an ancient king of the skies regarding a fresh batch of snacks.
"PISS OFF!" A fireball flew at the beast, singeing its chest feathers. The other students followed up, and the air filled with rifle reports, shotgun blasts, and pink grenades. The Nevermore took to the air and departed with an indignant squawk, firing a parting shot of sharp feathers.
"Behind us!" shouted Pyrrha. The Death Stalker had caught up with them, and the champion was fending it off with shield and spear. With a roar, Yang rushed to help against the Grimm that'd tried to kill her sister, shotguns blazing; Blake moved in after her partner. The black-haired girl ran back along the scorpion's right flank; the Grimm turned to deal with the nuisance, but the shadow clone dissipated in purple mist as the claw hit it. The real Blake peppered the Death Stalker with bullets while the three Huntresses made a fighting retreat.
Their journey's end was in sight, only a bridged ravine and a final set of ruins between them and the cliffs. Ruby was the first to gain the far side of the bridge, then Weiss, then Nora, Ren, Sable, Jaune...
Blake barely dodged back in time before the Nevermore slammed into the bridge like a meteor, Vale's priceless archaeological heritage falling into the abyss. Her ribbon shot out, pulling her back onto the near side, but leaving herself, Yang and Pyrrha stuck between a Death Stalker and a large drop.
"Oh no! Yang!" Ruby cried. "We gotta help them!" She positioned Crescent Rose, ready to throw herself at the Death Stalker for the second time in a row.
"Not again!" Weiss tugged her partner by the hood. "Don't just leave like that, you dolt! Your rifle's more useful on this side, anyways!" She cast a look around. "Sable, why don't you go back, no point doubling up on glyphs here—"
"You just want to kill that Nevermore, don't you?"
"So what if I do?" Weiss hissed. "The blasted thing dragged us halfway across the forest!"
"Hey, I was on it too..." Sable started, then shook his head and headed back towards the bridge. "Jaune! Follow me!"
"Look after Yang, all right?"
"Yeah!" Jaune gave Ruby a shaky thumbs-up. "I-I promise! And an Arc always keeps—"
"I'LL HELP!" Without warning, Nora smashed her hammer into the bridge full-force, sending the boys flying.
"AAAAHH!"
"DAMN IT!"
Jaune faceplanted into a stone floor for his third landing of the day, sliding neatly to a stop behind where Yang was fighting. Sable dismounted from his back, having somehow contrived to ride the knight like a surfboard. "My face..." the blond boy groaned, more in resignation than pain.
"Backup! About time!" Yang shouted, ducking a swing from a giant claw. "Got any ideas for this thing? We're not making a dent in its stupid armor!"
"There's got to be a weak spot! Joints, or any exposed areas!" Sable's pale eyes roved over the Death Stalker. "Alright, it's five on one, we all get a piece! Yang, Pyrrha, go for the claw joints. I'll take the eyes. You, the bow girl—"
"It's Blake."
"—keep the tail busy! And Jaune, help her out, I guess?"
Blake looked a bit put out, but followed the order. She vaulted gracefully over the Death Stalker's head, Gambol Shroud's ribbon snapping out to ensnare the stinger while it was distracted with stabbing through yet another clone. Jaune decided against imitating her acrobatics, and sheepishly took a detour around the side, the beast paying him no mind. The remaining three mounted a frontal assault: red on the right, yellow on the left, black down the middle.
Pyrrha flung her shield out to intercept the incoming claw, a black glow enveloping it. The pincer struck against it with a loud clang, but Akoúo̱ hung in midair without budging in inch, in defiance of all laws of physics. With a graceful roll Pyrrha slipped inside the Death Stalker's guard, and stabbed her similarly glowing javelin at the spot where claw met body. There was a sickening crunch, and Miló hit home with unnatural force, driving through the joint's armor. Forcing the point deeper, the champion shifted her weapon into its rifle form and fired over and over, pulping the soft flesh underneath.
On the other side, Yang threw up her arms in an X, absorbing a hit from the left pincer with a grunt and a flicker of gold. Again and again the blonde charged in, and again and again the Grimm knocked her back. But Yang showed no signs of frustration; a growing grin of anticipation adorned her face.
"That's enough!" she suddenly declared. Her purple eyes turned to red, and her hair glowed bright yellow. On her next attack run, she met the Death Stalker's pincer with a fist, and the armor crumpled on impact.
"TAKE THAT!" As the claw recoiled in shock and pain, Yang went on the offensive, raining blows that left craters in the scorpion's armor, black blood spraying. Ember Celica rang out with each hit, explosive shells detonating for even more damage.
With the two girls occupying both claws, Sable had an opening down the middle and sped forwards. The Death Stalker struck out with its mandibles, aiming to impale the boy; but with a well-timed jump, he landed safely on a white snowflake, while the sharp tusks clicked together under him. Two more glyphs formed over the Grimm's mask, glowing red with fire Dust.
BOOM.
"DIE!"
The Death Stalker screamed; its vulnerable eyes melted and boiled under the intense blaze. Yang, Pyrrha and Sable admired their handiwork; the Grimm's claws hung limp and useless, one shattered and full of holes, the other barely hanging by a thread. Its face plate was smoking and charred, streams of ichor running from where its eyes had been.
"Get the tail!" The three of them rushed further down the Death Stalker's body, to where the beast's last functioning weapon, the golden stinger, thrashed wildly, still wrapped up in the ribbon. Blake and Jaune were pulling the other end of the ribbon with all their might, straining to stop the tail from breaking free. It twisted to and fro, blindly stabbing at them from its awkward position, but Crocea Mors was extended to ward off any lucky hits.
A bronze shield, black sword, and yellow gauntlet crashed against the base of the tail. The long appendage split open with another spray of blood, swayed, then severed fully, toppling to the ground and dissolving.
Blind and dismembered, the Death Stalker was doomed. The hunting pack closed in, hacking away until there was nothing left but a mutilated corpse and five teenagers breathing heavily.
"WOO!" Yang broke the silence. "Big guy wasn't so tough after all, huh?" She clapped Sable on the back, sending him sprawling to the floor.
"Not again!"
"Heh, whoops! Forgot about that!" Yang deactivated her Semblance, and her eyes turned purple once more. "That was one hell of a plan...Icy-Hot."
"Icy-Hot?!" Sable shouted, bristling at being nicknamed after a pain-relief cream. Inaccurately nicknamed at that, considering that a Huntsman's skill-set was more optimal for inflicting pain than relieving it.
"Well, I was going to go with Ice King!" Yang explained cheerfully. "But it didn't really gel with all the screaming and fireballs, so Icy-Hot it is!" Sable glared daggers at the blonde, but Yang's cheery grin stayed on her face. "What, you don't like it? How about 'Freezer Burn'? 'Slush'?"
"Suit yourself! See if I care." The newly-dubbed 'Icy-Hot' finally conceded. Jaune clutched his chest and sighed in relief.
"My goodness!" Pyrrha exclaimed. "The Nevermore!"
"None of this is working!" Weiss's enthusiasm for inflicting violent retribution upon the demon-bird had turned to annoyance. Much to her chagrin, the Nevermore was simply shrugging off most of their ranged attacks. The threat of Nora's grenades was the only thing stopping it from just dive-bombing them, she judged, but the Nevermore was happy to just keep bombarding them with feathers at mid-range, where it could easily avoid the pink explosives. They were holding it at bay for now, but Nora was going to run out of grenades before the Nevemore ran out of feathers.
"If I could get up close and personal with that thing, I'd solve all our problems!" Nora still seemed to be enjoying herself, judging by her smile. She gestured violently with her hammer to emphasize her point. "Say, anyone got lightning Dust?"
"Wait, is that to do with your Semblance?" Ruby asked. Nora nodded excitedly. "You can use lightning Dust to power up your attacks, or something?"
"Yep, pretty much!" Nora chirped.
"Okay!" Ruby nodded. "Uh...I guess I should've asked that to begin with, huh? Ren, what can you do?"
"I can mask my negative emotions, and those of nearby people." Ren said. "It's quite useful for evading Grimm, though unfortunately less so in a combat situation."
"Okay! Wow!" Ruby facepalmed. "I really should have asked at the beginning. But um...I think I have a plan. Weiss, do you have any lightning dust?"
"Do I, heiress to the largest Dust company on this planet, have any lightning dust?" Weiss repeated sarcastically. "How much do you need?"
"How much do you have?" Nora asked, expression disturbingly eager. Was that a trickle of drool coming from her mouth?
"That's not an answer." Weiss said irritably. She fished around in her jacket, retrieving a vial of yellow powder. "You've got to have a precise dosage for something so volatile, unless you want to—"
"MINE!" Nora snatched the vial out of her hand, popped the cork, and guzzled the Dust down like candy. Ruby and Weiss watched in horror, as Ren shrugged helplessly at them.
"—suffer permanent neurological damage..." Weiss finished.
"YEEEESSS...POWER!" Nora cackled darkly, fists now crackling with pink electricity. "UNLIMITED POWERRRR!"
"There's no need to shout, Nora." Ren put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry about her, you get used to it."
Ruby explained the rest of the plan very quickly.
"BIRDIE! OVER HERE!"
The Nevermore crew had moved to a different part of the ruins, a large space that had once been some sort of great hall, but was little more now than a stone floor lined by two rows of broken pillars. Ruby was out in the open, while the other three had made a glyph-assisted climb up one of the pillars.
Ruby took pot-shots at the flying shape, willing it to take the bait. "GRIMM! YOUR HUMAN-HUNTING WAYS END TODAY! And, uh...FAUNUS-HUNTING WAYS TOO!"
The Nevermore turned, and began coming closer. Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby saw the three figures on the pillar fade in color (though it was hard to tell, in Weiss's case), as Ren's Semblance took effect.
"NEVERMORE YOU SHALL HURT THE INNOCENT!" Ruby hammed it up, brandishing Crescent Rose dramatically. The Nevermore committed to its dive, seeing only a little girl in its path, and not the one that fired scary explosions. "BECAUSE I, RUBY, WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN! IN THE NAME OF THE MOON!"
A wall of ice formed over the Nevermore's backside, sticking its tail to the ground. The giant bird squawked in surprise. Ren and Weiss, back in full color, leapt down from the pillar to join Ruby, who dashed forwards to slash at the wings with her scythe. But they were only secondary to the plan. The main character was the blur of pink lightning which had just crashed onto the Nevermore's head...
"NORA!" Nora Valkyrie pummeled the bird with rapid-fire strikes from Magnhild. The sounds of hammer hitting skull blurred together with Nora's battle cry and the Nevemore's shrieks of agony, into one continuous roar of thunder. "NORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORANORA!"
"Holy cow..." Ruby, Ren and Weiss barely had to do anything but watch now. Feathers, fragments of bone, and black Grimm-stuff flew everywhere. Giant wings twitched and spasmed, trying in vain to take off and escape, but it was quite difficult to muster that level coordination when you were having your brains beaten out with a massive hammer. With one final "NORA" it was all over. The Nevermore's body lay limp on the ground, its beak and broken mask some distance away. The head in between was nothing but a black smear. Nora stood in the middle of the destruction, beaming in utter contentment.
"OH MY GOSH, THAT WAS SO COOL!" screamed Ruby. "YOU WERE ALL LIKE 'NORANORANORA'—"
"YOU LOOKED AWESOME TOO!" Nora screamed back, grabbing Ruby and swinging her around in circles. "LIKE SOME HERO IN A CARTOON!"
"—SMASHED ITS HEAD LIKE A PUMPKIN—"
Weiss stared the dead Grimm, then at Ruby and Nora, and finally at Ren. "Is that normal?" she asked hesitantly.
"It's normal for Nora." Ren replied. Weiss facepalmed, her hopes of a sane team dwindling by the minute.
"AHHH! YOU'RE STILL COVERED IN PUKE!" Nora came to a delayed realization, flinging Ruby away like a shot put.
"I'll inform Winter we passed initiation." sighed Weiss. "As for the details...she must never find out."
Sable nodded in agreement. They were walking back south through the Emerald Forest towards Beacon now, relics in hand. After what they'd gone through, it seemed unfair, not to mention anticlimactic, to make them hike all the way back, but that was how Huntsman missions were. There wasn't always a convenient Bullhead ready to whisk you out of the wilds and back to civilization. At least they weren't having any more random encounters with ancient Grimm. Travelling in a group of nine, most of them pleased to have retrieved their relics and dismantled two giant monsters, would do that. Even if half of them were still coated in varying amounts of vomit...gah. If there was one good thing about a scorpion monster trying to tear you the shreds, at least it distracted from the smell.
"Sable?" Jaune Arc spoke up. "I-I know I should have said this earlier, but...thank you. I mean, you saved my life, and you could've d—"
"Don't mention it." Sable put up a hand. "I mean that literally. Tell anyone about it and I'll kill you." Jaune recoiled, looking terrified. "I didn't mean that literally, idiot! You won't like what happens, is all."
He opened his eyes to see his partner on the ground, a Beowolf dissolving on top of him...
Gods, he'd nearly been eaten in his sleep by the lowliest of Grimm. That was no way for a Schnee to die; the White Fang would've been laughing about it for decades to come. And that dolt was the one who'd stopped it from happening?
He didn't help me at all! I was only in trouble because of him! Sable knew that was a hollow excuse, though. Huntsmen encountered surprises every day. He should have been stronger! He shouldn't have let himself be overcome like that, unexpectedly large locked Aura reserves or not.
So where did that leave them? He could go right to Ozpin once they got back, and demand he rectify the obvious mistake of letting someone so unprepared take the test. And then what? Live the rest of his life, knowing he'd needed help from some Auraless loser just to survive initiation?
If it was even a mistake, considering how illogical the whole process had been thus far. Maybe it was a tradition to randomly let in the bottom student from one combat school, just for fun...
"Sable, what did you do?!" Weiss questioned. Oh right, she was still there. This was awkward.
"Nothing!" he said hastily. Weiss narrowed her eyes. "All right, not nothing. We had...a bit of a problem, but we made it out intact. And I won't let it happen again."
"Hmph." Weiss still looked suspicious, but she let the matter drop, realizing she wasn't going to get any more out of him. "So long as you don't make a habit of...whatever reckless stunt you surely pulled. I suppose you can keep your secrets. For now."
He probably ought to tell her the truth one day; they were family after all, of the variety that didn't despise each other, and he could count that number on one hand (more like two fingers). Maybe sometime third or fourth year? Meanwhile, he had work to do. Sable would make a real Huntsman out of Jaune Arc, no matter what. He'd take that formless lump of a boy and reshape him anew, until he was someone worthy of coming to his aid!
Jaune suddenly shivered, an unmistakable feeling of danger washing over him. There were definitely no Grimm nearby...how strange.
Several long showers later, the students gathered back in the auditorium. Fortunately the vomit crew all had backup combat outfits, to replace the ones currently in the wash. Except for Jaune, that is. The Pumpkin Pete's hoodie was sadly one of a kind, and the poor boy was attending the ending ceremony in jeans and a t-shirt. At least he'd brought a few changes of clothes, otherwise he'd have been up there in a blue onesie.
"Lie Ren. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Nora Valkyrie." Ozpin intoned. "The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forwards you will work together as Team RRWN (Rowan). Led by...Ruby Rose."
"YEAH! Fearless leader!" Nora lifted Ruby in a bear hug, while Ren nodded politely in acknowledgement. Weiss did not join in the revelry, a look of surprise and slight annoyance on her face.
"Jaune Arc. Blake Belladonna. Sable Schnee. Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin continued as the newly minted Team RRWN left the stage.
Still in minor shock, Weiss wondered as to who might lead that particular group. The criteria for team leaders was probably just as nonsensical as everything else about the process, she reasoned. Maybe they just gave it to whoever needed to have their confidence boosted the most; that would explain Ruby. If her theory held, then it'd likely be the Arc, who looked by far the most uncertain of the four.
"The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forwards you will work together as team SJBY (Strawberry). Led by...Sable Schnee."
"What?!" Weiss's brain shut down.
"Mmm...strawberry." Ruby whispered. "That's such a cool name..."
An utterly smug smile bloomed on the Schnee boy's face, a smile that quickly vanished when he processed his team's reactions. Both Jaune and Blake stood frozen with expressions of bug-eyed horror. Only Yang appeared unfazed, still sporting her confident grin.
"Come on!" he snapped. "Can you two not look like your cat just died?!"
"Uh...congrats..." Jaune sputtered. Blake looked ready to pull out Gambol Shroud and disembowel herself on the spot.
"And finally. Pyrrha Nikos, you were the only student to retrieve a white pawn piece. You will be temporarily be designated as Team P." There were snickers from the audience, and Pyrrha's smile started to look more like a death rictus. "Your participation in team activities will be determined case by case..."
"Oh dear..." whispered Glynda Goodwitch. She'd be the first to admit that Beacon's team formation process was the most random of the four Academies. Something that one would think might grate on her disciplined personality, but she'd seen the unexpected benefits over and over. People were forced out of their comfort zones; they befriended those who they might never speak to otherwise; they discovered new ways of using their skills, that they had never imagined.
There were also times it just created an utter mess. Volatile personalities, longstanding grudges, and dark secrets all added up to the recipe for intra-team homicide that was Team SJBY. Would it be Winter's brother and Qrow's niece? The Schnee and the ex-White Fang? Any of the other three getting sick of the probable fraud?
"Destiny has spoken, Glynda." Ozpin said. "It is up to them to make it work."
"I know, Ozpin." Glynda sighed. "Was it wise to name that boy leader? He physically assaulted his partner in the forest!" Were it up to Glynda, he'd be on an airship back to Atlas, famous name or not. His frustration had been understandable, but there were some lines you did not cross in the field.
"Not his finest moment, to be sure." Ozpin sipped from his mug. "But he went on to save that same boy's life at risk to his own, and that plan against the Death Stalker was clinical. Great potential...and a great deal to improve, but that is why they are here, is it not?"
Glynda looked at his with skepticism. "Are you sure it wasn't because you couldn't think of a name starting with a different letter?"
"Have some more faith in my vocabulary, Glynda." Ozpin chuckled. "Who would you have named leader, if I may ask?"
"I..." Jaune Arc? Certainly not. Blake Belladonna? No, Glynda was not inclined to trust her with that much. Yang Xiao Long? Goodness, she was seriously considering whether Yang Xiao Long was the best choice to lead that group.
This team was cursed.
Holy crap, the OC got named leader over Jaune? *MARY SUE ALARM GOES OFF*
But yeah, being a nice person isn't really a requirement for leadership (coughCardincough). Ozpin's also hoping the responsibility will get Sable to learn to care for people, and be less of a gremlin in general.
And I liked the name 'Strawberry'.