"Was El's training this brutal as a child?" Summer asked Soul

"This brutal?" He gestures toward the four barely conscious teens. " This wasn't even considered a warm-up."

"Wow..." Summer replied in astonishment.

"Ugh, it is normal to taste your spleen?" Ruby asked while groaning in agony.

"It feels like my guts got rearranged..and not in the good kind of way," yang added as she collapsed.

The older silver-eyed wielder groaned in disappointment at Yang's comment.

"Yang, thats-" Weiss didn't get the chance to scold her blonde teammate as she also collapsed to the ground, twitching.

Blake didn't have anything to add to the conversation as she was currently passed the fuck out and was being carried bridal style by a smirking Elridian.

"Oh, come on, guys, it wasn't that bad," he said with a shit-eating grin.

The girls would've glared at them, but they were all too busy being groaning in absolute agony but were silently cursing him for being such a sadistic bastard.

After getting a good long look at them in their workout clothes which consisted of shorts that were considered barely legal and wearing crop tops that showed a considerable amount of skin, allowing the sadistic teen to get an excellent view of their curves, toned stomachs, and other assets, the only person who didn't wear this attire was Ruby for other reasons he wouldn't go over.

"COULD YOU STOP CHECKING THEM OUT AND GO ALREADY!!!"

Dorm

He decided to carry blake to her bed and gently place her down, but there was a problem. She wouldn't let go of him, and he didn't mind it either, but she was covered in sweat and smelled of pain, blood, and vengeance. It didn't help that she had a fucking smirk along her face, either. She opened her eyes, looking at him, half awake, half glaring at him.

"Im in a great deal of pain because of you, " she said with a snarl, "the least you could do is help, considering you tortured me the most," she finished giving him a smirk.

Summer grinned. "An opportunist. I like her!"

He shrugged, "fair enough," Elridian wasn't a complete asshole, and seeing the opportunity to touch Blake without the possible consequence of getting stabbed, he began by laying her on her stomach and began to work out the kinks in her body. He started with the neck and shoulders, then worked his way to her back, earning multiple moans of pleasure from the Faunus in hiding. It was music to his ears.

"Mmm, how a-are so good at this?" Blake asked.

"A friend taught me."

"Was this friend also a woman?"

"Yup."

She sighed, "sounds about right," she chuckled.

"Hey, it's not my fault that im a magnet for beautiful women," he joked while making his way to her thighs.

Blake blushed once she felt his hands on her thigh, forgetting he wasn't a shy person, and tried not to moan at the sensations she felt as it was a combination of relief and pleasure, especially in the inner thigh, where she felt the most pain.

"You know Im rather enjoying the glares the girls are sending you." The older woman chuckled.

He grinned on the inside. "Not the only one."

A few moments later, the team leader finished messaging the Faunus in hiding, who was on cloud nine, so deciding he needed a shower himself, he got up to receive his towel. However, when he turned around, he saw that the others were staring at him. Well, Ruby was glaring at him while the other two looked like they wanted what Blake had received. Deciding to agitate them, he decided to play dumb.

"Yes?"

Ruby stomped up to him, grabbed his wrist, and dragged him towards their bed. Then she sat down, pouting at him, "my turn."

He grinned

An hour later

After an hour of helping the girls with tense muscles, taking a shower, and getting something to eat, Elridian decided it was time to get one-on-one with his teammates. Sure he got along with them, but he didn't know them; he didn't know their likes, dislikes, hobbies, or, most importantly, their goals, with Ruby being the only exception as she was an open book and her desires were simple, and be could be easily manipulated just the way he liked it. The others he didn't know much. Yang seemed similar to ruby, just not as naive. Weiss would be more challenging as he could sense "daddy issues" from a mile away. Lastly, there was blake. She would be the hardest by far, but nothing he couldn't deal with, and it most likely had something to do with her secret.

Nonetheless, he knew where to start.

"Hey, Goldie."

"Yeah, pretty boy?"

"Wanna go grab a drink?"

"YOU DRINK?!" Summer asked Elridian incredulously.

"Eh."

At the moment, everyone looked at him as if he had grown a second head and felt a certain scythe wielder burning a hole into the back of his skull.

Yang didn't automatically answer him or have that infamous sly smile across her, "Are you asking me out?" she asked flirtatiously with a big grin appearing on her face.

"Nope as the team leader, I wanna get to know you all individually, and since it's still early, so I'd thought to start now."

Yang seemed a bit disappointed but nodded nonetheless and perked up. How couldn't she? Free drinks and spending that time with a hot guy is a dream come true.

"Alright, pretty boy, when do wanna head out?"

"In ten minutes."

Yang nodded and smiled brightly, "then ill be right back, " and she was out of the room before anyone could ask her anything.

"El?" ruby asked in a dangerous tone.

"Yes, my little rose?" he said as he turned around with a fake innocent smile.

"Oh oum, I can see why your called Death-seeker." Summer sighed.

"You know it, mama rose!"

Ruby wasn't amused as she had her arms crossed under her chest, giving him a look that threatened death.

"Oh, come on, don't give me that look. I practically know everything there needs to know about you, so please," Elridian cautiously walked towards his girlfriend as he was just like any guy. He didn't want a swift kick to his family jewels. Still, since he had a death wish, he got close enough to cup her cheeks and press his lips against her, and melted into the kiss after a few moments of hesitation, wanting to be mad at him. Then looked into her silver orbs as he broke the kiss, "don't be upset with me, please."

Ruby couldn't be mad at him, so she nodded and hugged him tightly, " it's not that im mad. It's just that... I don't know. I guess Im scared you'll get tired of me."

"My poor baby...BOY, YOU BETTER FIX THIS, OR IMMA SCREAM LIKE A BANSHEE!!!"

Hearing thoughs words shattered his heart. It felt like someone ripped it out of his chest, stomped on it, and threw it into a meat grinder. He kissed the top of Ruby's head and reassured her, "Me getting tired of you? Impossible," he chuckled.

A smile came to her face, "yeah, true. You seem like the kind of guy that will stick around until the end..but you still better not, mister," she giggled as she poked his chest, "you're stuck with me."

He smiled and nodded.

While they were having another one of their moments, Blake and Weiss watched, feeling jealous and angry, but didn't show it.

"By the way, M'lady, where would you like to go tomorrow? Im game for pretty much anything," the red-eyed teen asked while still holding Ruby.

"Oh, um, I know this nice place in vale that we could go to," she replied.

"Awesome," he paused, "I wonder where-" before he could say anything, yang slammed the door open, scaring everyone except Elridian.

"What the dust, yang!!" Weiss yelled.

"Yeah, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" shouted the Faunus.

"Ugh, Yang!!"

Elridian didn't say much as he was busy admiring Yang's attire, "Wow, I dig the look, Goldie," Elridian whistled.

Yang smirked, "glad you like it, pretty boy."

Yang being yang, wasn't afraid to expose a little skin. This outfit of hers was no different as she wore a black crop top, exposing most of her defined stomach, wearing black shorts similar to the one she usually wore except these were a bit longer, wore long yellow socks, wore black shoes, and to top it all off wore a yellow jacket that was equally short and covered her uppers arms. He was surprised that she didn't have Ember Celica equipped.

"No, Ember Celica?" Blake asked, who was also surprised.

"Nah," yang grinned and grabbed Elridian's arm dragging him away from Ruby, "I'll be okay with, pretty boy watching my back," she replied, hugging his arm, earning an eye twitch from the others.

"You guys also enjoying yourselves?" Elrid asked in his mind.

"YUP!"

"Indeed I am," Soul replied, chuckling.

Junior club

"Friends of yours?"

"Could say that."

Summer really should've expected this. Considering how yang could be at times when she was still alive in the physical world didn't mean she didn't let out a long groan.

The two were standing with hordes of men aiming their weapons at them, ready to fire the second they made any movement.

"So, where's Junior? I thought he'd come to say hi to an old friend, " yang chirped with a grin.

A second later, the man known as "Junior" pushed through his men and looked pretty pissed. Elridian wondered what she did to get on his bad side. Whatever it was, he was sure it would've been entertaining to watch.

"What are you doing back here?! Do you have any fucking clue how much you cost me in damages?!"

"Awe, it's good to see you too, Junior. Tell me, anything new going on? You finally got yourself a Girlfriend?" yang giggled at that.

Junior growled, "get the fuck out now!! Or ill-" junior didn't finish his sentence as his and yangs eyes widened when Elridian approached him with several stacks of lien in his hand that he "confiscated" from some thug after the meeting with Roman. He scored big when he saw that the dumb fuck had several bags stuffed with the currency in the back of his vehicle.

"Let us through, and ill be sure to compensate you generously, and don't worry, I'll keep goldie locks on a tight leash."

Junior being a man of business, quickly took the lien and gestured for his men to lower their weapons, "damn, sweetheart, you sure know how to pick him," junior chuckled while counting the stacks of lien.

Yang blushed," Oh, we're not-" she was cut off.

"She sure does, and keep the drinks coming."

"You got it."

And just like that, Elridian grabbed yangs hand and found an area for them to sit. Yang looked at him, curious how he obtained so much lien and why he cut her off, "Ya know I was expecting you to get violent."

"Eh, didn't come here to fight plus," he sat closer to yang and faced her. The sudden closeness caused yang to go red due to how close their noses were to touching, but what really surprised her was when he began to play with her golden hair gently, "I didn't wanna get any blood on your pretty hair, " the red-eyed teen said seductively.

Yang was a confident and fierce individual who wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind or take what she wanted, but when it came to the dimension-hopper, she was no match as his comment towards her hair and the hot breath that brushed against her lips caused her to go as red as her little sisters hood. The blonde hated that he could get her to such a state, a state she wished she could get Elridian in but failed at every attempt.

Before anything else could happen, he leaned back. Much to the blonde's disappointment, a second later, someone brought them their drinks; however, instead of two glasses filled with cheap liver-destroying liquid, it was an expensive-looking bottle of alcohol with two shot glasses on the side. The two to grinned.

Pouring Yang then himself a shot of the liver-destroying liquid, they quickly downed it. Yang's face cringed at how strong the alcohol was, while Elridian didn't react, causing the blonde to raise an eyebrow. "Use to drink?"

"Nope, just numb," he replied depressingly before taking another shot, and then he looked at her with a smile, "now, Goldie, tell me about yourself."

Yang didn't know how to feel about his first comment and pushed it to the side for now, "well, what do you wanna know?" she asked, taking another shot.

"Everything."

Yang chuckled, "wow, very specific, there, pretty boy."

He shrugged, "I wanna know your likes, dislikes, hobbies, shit like that."

Yang thought before replying while pouring herself another shot, "Well, I grew up at a place called 'patch.' My birthday is on July 28th. I have a dog named Zwei, who's with dad-" she was cut off.

"Sorry, I don't mean to cut you off, but I was curious about something."

Yang looked at him curiously.

"You and Ruby are half-sisters, right?"

"Yuppers!"

"I hope this isn't im not intruding, but-" he was cut off.

"I never knew my mom," she replied sadly, "but Ruby's mom raised me alongside our dad. I didn't even know she wasn't my biological mom, but after her death, I found out," she took another shot.

"I'm sorry," he rested his hand on her shoulder.

She shrugged, "don't be. At least I got to experience what it was like to have a mom with Summer...she was awesome.." she said, smiling, remembering happy memories.

"Wish I could still be there for you.." Summer said, wishing Yang could hear her.

"That's a good way of seeing it," he said, smiling.

"Yeah, I guess so," yang gave him a long look, "hey..El.." yang said shyly.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Yes?"

She rubbed her left arm, "could you.. could you tell me about your home?"

He gave her a sad smile and looked away. Yang, afraid she hit a sore spot, was about to apologize. However, he spoke before she could say anything, "despite my species name sounding edgy as fuck," Elridian stopped to chuckle, " where we originated was the opposite, my planet was called 'Crim,' it was a beautiful and peaceful world. The skies were a light color of red. Hell, most of the planet was red. The only thing that wasn't the color was the fields of golden grass. The wildlife was mostly tame, "he sighed, "I remember when I found this little wolf pup all by itself, and its mother wasn't anywhere to be seen, so I took it home with me," he paused to pour himself another shot and gulped it down, "I named her Rose, she..she was a good companion while it lasted," he said sounding hurt.

"What happened to her?" she asked nervously.

"Dad snapped her neck in front of me. 'This filthy mutt is just a waste of time,' he said, or it was something around those lines can't remember," he said bitterly.

Yang and Summer looked horrified that his father would do such a thing to a poor innocent animal, much less a puppy. Summer wanted to kill Elridian's father herself. While the blonde was infuriated, as if anyone ever dared to harm Zwei, there would be hell to pay. She placed her hand on his, "im sorry."

He shrugged by, appreciating the comfort, "that's the cost of being 'special,' I guess," he chuckled again," but if you ask me, I always wanted to be average. Ya know, I wanted to be an artist when I got older," he stated.

Yang was surprised, "Wow, I never pictured you as the artsy type," she replied, stunned.

"Me either."

"Yeah, well, thank my parents for that. Anyways, I also wanted a family of my own one day too, but now I don't know if I can have that."

"Why not?"

"Cause people who are born special or 'expected' to do great things tend to end up dead or miserable," a thought came to mind, "ever got to find out who your bio mom was?"

"No.." she went quiet for a moment, " if I ever meet her, I wouldn't know if id either punch her or ask her why she wasn't there for me, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there."

"Fair enough," he poured himself and her a shot, then raised his glass, "to pain."

"To pain," yang raised her glass and lightly tapped it against his and downed her drink alongside her fearless leader.

"Im sorry, El. I wished you could've had someone like me to support you.." Summer said, still enraged at his father but sadden by his tragic childhood.

"Eh, past is the past, plus I forgave them. No point in hating or being angry about it now. All I can do now is move forward."

She frowned. "You know you're allowed to feel emotions, right?"

"I know, but I rather feel the good ones."

Unknown

"Alright, that's the last of them," said Adam, who slew the last Grimm in the area he was in, as he sheathed his sword and looked around.

He and several other members of the white fang were in an ancient temple located in one of the dangerous areas on Remnant, and cause of this, Adam lost a few members.

"Alright, bring it in!" Adam shouted.

A moment later, an aircraft could be heard landing outside of the temple. Roman, neo, and several of his men entered the temple with his men carrying an enormous object of unknown origins.

"Hope you didn't have too much trouble."

"Lost a few brothers and sisters, unfortunately. I hope whatever this thing Death-Seeker wanted us to plant here was worth it."

"Oh, it definitely was, and the other three were planted."

"Good," Adam replied as he watched Torchwick's men plant the strange object.

"So what was this thing called again?" roman asked Inquisitively.

"Adam, from what I remember, Death-seeker said it's a 'Das Vuko' or 'Pillar of power' in our tongue. He stated these pillars would aid in his recovery as these objects absorb negative energy and chaotic energy then transfer it to his body."

"Ah, I see."

Neo inspected the pillar and pressed her hand against its cold, rough surface.

"Be careful of that thing, Neo! I don't want Death-seeker on our asses," Roman shouted," Anyways, let's plant these protection sign thingies and get the hell out of here. This place is giving the creeps."

Addam nodded and planted the Signs Elridian had given him. Then took out a bottle of red liquid and poured it on all the Signs activating the barrier.

"What is that exactly?" Roman asked, pointing at the bottle that contained the red liquid.

"It's his blood," replied causally.

Roman and Neo's eyes widen, "What the fuck?"

"Since we can't activate them ourselves, he gave me several bottles of his blood."

"Guess everything has a price, eh?"

Adam nodded.

And like that, they left the temple.

"So, what are your thoughts on our new boss?" Adam asked the both of them.

"So far, he ain't so bad allows us to continue our operations as long as he gets a cut and won't threaten our lives so long as we don't kill innocents, but that doesn't mean he doesn't scare the shit outta me," Roman replied.

Neo showed her reply. "I like him A LOT so far, so I don't mind taking orders from him. He's so far ten times better than that bitch." Neo scowled at the thought of the amber-eyed woman.

Adam nodded.

"So, how did you come across the guy, my Faunus friend?"

"He..crashed through a ceiling, landing on our former leader, killing her in the process, and I was soon made leader, but that was after he slaughtered hordes of my men in the blink of an eye." Adam sheepishly replied.

Roman and Neo looked at him incredulously. "Well, that's one way to make an entrance."

After that, nothing else was said as they made their back to the city of the Vale.