Hey folks!

I'm very sorry for keeping y'all waiting, but it's finally here. Enjoy!

Warning: More sad crap ahead. Proceed with caution.

Chapter 11: Face your Demons

Chapter Summary: The weekend following the 3-way fightWeiss, Blake, and Shade, both the Heiress and Nargacuga learn just how strong the power of forgiveness could go a long way.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All rights go to Capcom and RoosterTeeth.

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It was another day at Beacon. The sun rose to greet the students with a beautiful day as they went out to enjoy the Weekend to the fullest. But...that wasn't the case for everyone.

The sun shone through the window of Team RWBY's dorm, bringing a certain Barioth to open his blue eyes slowly. Curled up next to Weiss' bed, he lifted his head and let out a yawn, unintentionally brandishing his massive orange tusks. As he looked around the room, memories from last night began fill his mind.

After he and Yang has given Ruby a bath to help her calm down, the crimsonette insisted that she wanted to sleep with Yang. Being her big sister, the brawler couldn't deny her, and Ruby wound up falling asleep in her sister's arms.

After they had exited the bathroom, Douglas saw Weiss had changed into her sleepwear and was in her bed facing the wall. Neither of them exchanged words for the rest of the night, but it was obvious that the Heiress was hurting. As much as it pained the PseudoWyvern to see her like that, he wasn't in the mood to talk to her after what she had done, so he left her be.

"Oh good, you're awake." Ruby's voice, sounding tired and slightly hoarse, brought him out of memory lane.

He saw the crimsonette sitting on Blake's bed, already dressed in her usual outfit. While Ruby did sleep in her sister's comforting embrace, it was obvious that what sleep she did get wasn't enough. Her silver eyes were slightly puffy from crying and had bags beneath them. She was trying to smile, but it didn't take a detective to know that Ruby was still upset. He looked and saw that Weiss and Yang were missing.

"Where's Weiss and Yang?" He asked.

"Yang is showering right now, and Weiss had left earlier. Apparently, she wanted to be alone." Ruby explained. The White Wyvern looked down at that. He didn't hurt the girl too bad, did he?

"Once Weiss and your sister return, we're heading out." Douglas said. Then, there was a knock on the door.

Ruby got up and went over to open it. Upon doing so, she saw Coco standing there with a large box in her arms.

"Oh. Hey, Coco." Ruby greeted her, rubbing her eyes and sniffling a bit.

"Whoa. You okay, pipsqueak?" Coco asked in concern.

"Y-Yeah...it just that...well..."

"There was a fight between Shade, Blake, and Weiss. Weiss said some things and both Blake and Shade ran off." The Barioth answered for Ruby.

"Whoa. That must have been a really bad fight then. But now how am I gonna get Shade his new accessories?" She wondered.

"Accessories?" Ruby asked. Douglas leaned forward a bit and sniffed the box. "Is this what you measuring us for?"

"Yeah. Come check it out." She said, walking to the middle of the room.

It was at that moment Yang walked out of the bathroom, fully dressed and drying her hair with a towel.

"What's in the box, Coco?" The blonde asked.

"Some accessories for your monsters and Boomer. But I guess Shade isn't here to get his. But, I guess you can just give them to him when you find him." She said, opening the box to reveal the accessories they asked for.

Ruby pulls out a blue collar studded with Sapphires, with a metal tag that had a simplified emblem of Douglas' head on it, along with his name below it. "This is for you, I suppose." Ruby said, clasping the collar around his neck.

The Barioth went to a mirror near the window and checked out the collar. A small smirk appeared on his tusked face. "Not too shabby, lass." He said to the fashionista.

She smirked. "Thought you might like that." She said.

"Shade..." They heard Ruby whisper. They saw her holding a black scarf with a simplified emblem of Shade's head at one end, and his name stitched into the other end with white fabric. She sniffled and shed a tear as she held it to her chest. Her sister approached her and pulled her into her arms as she sobbed quietly into her chest.

Coco put a hand on their shoulders supportively. "You guys will find him. I know it." She told them.

"So are we..." Ruby agreed sadly.

Douglas then stepped up to the open window. "I'm going to find Weiss so we can fix this. Wait for us at the landing pad." He ordered before flying out the window, leaving the three girls alone.

Coco then got a devious smirk. "So, think the Ice Queen's about to get a spanking?" She asked.

Both Ruby and Yang gave her an unamused expression, making her smirk vanish. She looked away.

"Right, too soon..."

At the gardens of Beacon...

Douglas flew through the air, his eyes, ears, and nose all open for any sign of the Schnee Heiress. He flew

down and landed on the concrete, proceeding down the walkway as he continued his search. Aside from him and a few students, the area was vacant.

"Come on, Weiss, where are you?" He muttered to himself. He continued deeper into the gardens, until eventually his ears picked up on his first sign.

A sniffle.

A mixture of relief and panic filled him as he broke into a brisk trot, following the increasing number of sobs and sniffles until he found who he was looking for.

There, sitting against a tree and hugging her knees, was Weiss. Her face was hidden behind her legs, but the occasional sniffle or sob along with a tremble accompanying was all the Barioth needed to feel his heart ache. He sighed and sat on the side of the trunk to the Heiress' right. Douglas sat there for a few moments before speaking.

"You're not going to stay here and sulk all day, are you?" He asked.

Weiss gasped when she heard his voice, having believed she was alone, so she looked up, rather startled when she saw the Psuedo-Wyvern. "Douglas..." she said before her expression turned to a scowl and looked away. "What do you want?"

"I'm here to tell you that Ruby and Yang are waiting for us at the landing pad." Douglas said simply, ignoring her. "I think the better question is: why are you crying?"

"Because they're all against me. They sided with that... traitor." Weiss said with a hiccup. This wasn't true, of course, but she wasn't ready to admit she was in the wrong.

"They sided against you because you became an enemy. You judged them before you even knew them, and they took offense to that." Douglas answered. "Whoever taught you that was a piece of shit in all sense of the word."

Weiss said nothing to that, and the Barioth took the chance to ask a rather personal question.

"...what was your home life like?" He asked, not flinching when Weiss glared at him. "Just because you were born with everything doesn't mean your life was perfect. Your behavior over the last few months have painted a rather dark picture of what things back home may be like."

Weiss sniffled at this. "My father is a monster. And I don't mean like you or Shade. I mean he is vile to his core. He is greedy, underhanded and self-serving megalomaniac who uses everyone like stepping stones to further his own goals, including my mother and siblings. We were never his family. We were only ever his pawns to use." Weiss explained, her sobs growing harder once again after she had started to calm down.

"Hmm...what about your mother and siblings?" Douglas, asked, pressing further. He needed answers and he needed them now. "If you came here to get away from him, then what about them? Didn't you care about them?"

"My mother has basically shut down. I almost never see her anymore and when I do, she barely speaks to me. She's too busy practically drowning in a whiskey bottle. My sister was lucky enough to get away. She joined the Atlas military. She made something of herself. I dont have to worry about her. But my brother... my father always wanted a son, his only truly worthy heir. He's done his best to manipulate him and basically turn him into an exact copy of himself. And he's pretty much succeeded. If anyone's future with my father is secure, it's his." Weiss told him.

The more Douglas heard about the bastard that was Weiss' father, the more it started to make sense. Weiss was a bitch because her father made her resentful of everyone she met. His anger towards her had made her paranoid of everyone she came across. Closing his eyes, he sat up and pulled the sobbing girl close to his body, pressing her into the warm white fur of his chest and wrapping his forelimbs around her in an embrace.

Weiss was shocked to find someone, for the first time since... she couldn't remember when, was holding her in a loving embrace. "Why? After all I've said and done, why are you still with me?" She asked.

"Because..." Douglas said, hesitating a bit. Here it goes. "You remind me of someone use to know..." He confessed, a bit of emotion slipping into his voice. This peaked Weiss' interest.

Her curiosity got the better of her. She had to know. "Who?" She asked.

Douglas let go of her and looked ahead into the distance. "Did I ever tell you what my life was like before I came to this realm?" He asked.

Weiss thought for a moment, before shaking her head. "No. You never did." She said.

Douglas sighed. "Years ago, I was a Don, the head of a monster mafia that preserved the balance in a valley surrounded by mountains. Nestled in this valley was a village. There was no conflict, as most of the time the villagers preferred to keep away from us, and we kept away from them. However, one day it all changed." He said. "You see, the village was governed by a noble family who had a single daughter. Sometimes, they would come up a meadow in the summer and have a picnic, letting their daughter play in the fields. Said meadow just so happened to be near my den at the time."

"Let me guess: she got a little too close?" Weiss asked.

"Kind of. She was playing around, and in her excitement, she didn't realize how far she went until she literally bumped into my nose while I was napping." Douglas explained. "When I awoke, I was half mad at being woken up and half curious about the child before me. She looked almost exactly like you. White hair, blue eyes, pale skin. She also showed no fear, and instead of panicking or crying, she cried out in joy and hugged my snout, which surprised me to say the least." He said with small smile at the memory.

Weiss couldn't help but giggle at this. "So then, you did the logical thing and brought her back to her parents?" She asked.

"Yeah. As adorable as she was, I knew I couldn't just take her, so I held her and brought her back over to her parents. Her parents, to put it likely, were shocked when they saw their little girl hanging from a Barioth's jaws. I dropped her right in front of them, she said goodbye, and we parted ways. Little did I know that wouldn't be the last I would see them."

"So, I'm guessing they returned on occasion?" Weiss asked.

"Yep. Every few days or so, they would return, likely on request of their daughter. At first, I wasn't so used to the sudden company, often keeping my distance, but I grew to enjoy their presence after a time, especially the presence of the girl. She brought an energy into my life I never knew I needed, and whenever I heard her family was coming, I would wait for them. Hell, I was even allowed to roam the village as a guest. You can say I was a local celebrity." He said with a laugh. "Years passed, and I watched the girl grow up into a beautiful young woman, loved by her community and even respected by my gang. On her seventeenth birthday, we did something I would never forget: I let her ride my back." He sighed with nostalgia. "Her laughter and bright smile on that day were what made it so memorable for me, and it would and will be a memory I will cherish for years." Weiss watched him as he talked. She could've sworn she saw his scales and fur turn a brighter shade of white as he retold his life story. Seeing him happy gave her a warm feeling in her normally cold heart. But that feeling vanished when his gaze hardened.

"But like all good things, it was not meant to last." He almost growled, his eyes briefly brimming with yellow before they reverted to normal.

"W-what happened?" She asked in concern.

"A year after that joyful day, I was visiting the village when these...lunatics showed up at the front gates. Dressed in white and red robes, they hid their faces beneath heavy hoods. They had this air about them that made every fiber of my being uneasy. Their leader, who had spiral horns sprouting from his hood, pointed at me and said that I had to leave and never return. If I didn't, there would be blood shed. Of course, we didn't believe them, and we chased them off. That night, before I returned to my den, my human told me that no matter what happened, we will remain together, always. We didn't speak the same language, but we understood eachother clearly." He said, his gaze growing darker. "If only that were true..."

Douglas eyes slowly turned gold. "A week later, I awoke to the smell of smoke. Initially, I was curious, so I flew up and gained enough altitude to look over the village." His lip curled into a snarl. "The Entire Village, While I had been asleep, had been burned to the ground. Nothing but ash and foundations were left of the buildings, and the bodies of villagers, the men, women, elderly, and children, littered the streets, all littered the streets in pools of their own blood. I was horrified, but nothing could prepare me for what I saw at what used to be the house of the nobles..." When Douglas said that, Weiss saw a single tear streamed down his cheek as his voice lost a bit of its humanity and became a bit more beast-like. "What I saw would haunt me until the day I die. My human's father, the lord, had been bisected, his entrails all that were connecting his torso and waist together. Her mother, the lady, had been raped and later mutilated, and then I saw it. The girl, the one I had watched grow into maturity, the bright soul who had her whole life ahead of her, had been chopped into pieces, her body parts placed on pikes, and her head, forever trapped in an expression of grief and terror, laid at the center of it all." At this rate, Douglas' tears were coming nonstop, and squinted his eyes shut in grief.

"I-I...I couldn't save her...*snif*...I was a failure...if only I cou-!" He was cut off by Weiss throwing herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"It's not your fault. The blame is solely on the people in the robes. You and the village did nothing wrong." She assured him.

"I-I tried to move on...I buried them and sent my best members out to track down those men. But they never found them, for those fucks left no tracks." He growled, holding onto Weiss like she would vanish at anytime. " I tried to forget it by stepping down and heading to the New World, but her death still haunted me..." He looked down at Weiss. "And now, I have a chance to do things right. Your father practically abandoned you, and you defied him by coming here, and by coming here, I met you when I first came to Remnant. And I'm thankful for that." He sniffed the last of his tears away and hugged her. "I want to thank you. For bringing me out of the dark place I was in."

"I might still be in that dark place. And I don't think I know how to get out." She said.

Douglas only smiled comfortingly. "Then I can show you. Beacon is a place of new beginnings, and you can find yours with the help of not just me, but Ruby, Yang, Blake, Shade, Team JNPR, and CVFY. We all can help you feel happiness again." He placed a paw on her shoulder. "But it is only possible if you let us. Do you think you can do it?"

Weiss looked down in uncertainty, but after several moments, she looked up at him. "I think I can." She agrees.

Great!" He clapped his paws together. "You can start by helping us track down Blake and Shade and apologizing to them." He stood up and began making his way out of the gardens. He looked behind himself to look at Weiss "You coming or nah?"

Weiss was shocked at this sudden heel turn. "But-but-but-" She stammered, hesitant to go out and search for them because of what they might say to her, or what she would say to them.

"No buts!" Douglas said firmly. "You told me your reasons for being who you are, and I told you mine. You wanna improve yourself as a person, don't you? Then the first step will be to apologize to your friends. Try opening up about yourself and not just push them away." He explained.

Weiss huffed at this. "Fine." She agreed in defeat.

"Good." The Barioth's soft smile returned. "Let us go." He resumed his walk to the Landing Pad. Weiss rolled her eyes at this, though she would admit, he was a better father figure than that clip-on tie wearing jack-ass.

She walked after her familiar, not feeling too happy, but definitely a lot lighter than before

City of Vale, the following day...

Life was proceeding as usual for the people walking the streets of the city. People went from shop to shop, seeing what they can afford to improve their overall quality of life. From above the streets, sitting atop of a condemned building, was Shade.

He watched the citizens walk the streets with a bitter gaze. How dare they be happy when he was hurting! His eyes were weary and had small bags beneath them from both crying and a lack of sleep. His mood wasn't helped by the fact that he was starting to become a little hungry, as he hadn't eaten in the last day since he ran off.

Shade knew he couldn't take out his frustrations on the pedestrians below, he would be killed if he tried, so he just sat there, wallowing in his self-hatred. However, he didn't have long to do this, as a peculiar sound reached his ears.

Rork!

Roghk!

Rahk!

A strange series of barks came from a back alley behind him. Curious, he abandoned his post and walked to the other side of the building and looked down.

Down below him, hopping in a strange excitement, was a Jaggi. Belonging to the classification of Dog Wyverns, these monsters hunted in packs led by a single large male called a Great. The Jaggi below him was a young male, lithe in build with amethyst and burgundy scales covering his sinewy body. A small frill, which acted as a display feature, extended from both sides of his head, and small brown scutes extended from either side of his tail. Hopping in place, it continued to bark until two more of its kind ran out of another alley to greet him.

The trio exchanged greetings before taking off down the alleyway, towards a more shady part of the city. Narrowing his eyes, Shade followed them, keeping to the rooftops.

As he followed them, he noticed they were joined by not just others of their species, including the female Jaggia, who were stockier than the males, but other Dog Wyverns. He saw Baggi, who were larger than the Jaggi and covered in blue, yellow, and black scales, and Wroggi, orange skinned monsters from the swamps that specialize in deadly poison.

He also noticed a few bird wyverns among them, them being thinner in build than their robust cousins. Packs of them consist of juvenile males and equally small females, called prey, led by a single larger male known as a Drome. He noticed Velociprey, covered in blue scales with black stripping with their yellow crests, Gendrome, yellow-green wyverns with light brown strips that had two crests unstead of one, among the increasing amount of pack monsters that were racing toward a single destination as the Nargacuga continued to tail them.

Eventually, he came to an open space in front of an large building, with a large (deactivated) neon sign saying "Club Junior's" on the front. Shade watched pack monsters of all types move in and out the facility.

What sort of business was going on down here?

Leaping off the building he was on, he used his wings to glide down and land in the center of the crowd of monsters. Ignoring their startled cries, he padded up to the entrance, eyeing up the two men in suits that stood guard.

"Come on. Let's get this over with. The boss wants all this stuff loaded up on the double." One of the men said.

Shade paused his advance. Who was this boss? Now intrigued, he gave a bark to gain the guard's attention.

"Huh? What now, you stupid raptor things?!" He snapped, approaching where he head the noise from, only to see Shade. "You're not one of the raptors." He said.

Shade only growled and extended the spikes on his tail. "Are the leaders inside?" He questioned, keeping his tail raised.

The guy raised his hands in fear. "Y-yeah, they're just inside. Please, don't hurt me!" He pleaded.

Shade, for the first time in hours, smirked. "Good. Lead me to them."

Nervously, they led the Nargacuga into the club. Inside, pack monsters of all types were bustling about. Some were actually working at the joint as staff. To the left of the massive dance floor, there was a bar, where he can see the leaders of the Pack monsters conversing among themselves. He also saw the Malachite twins sitting beside them. He looked at the two thugs, who looked about ready to die from fear.

"Leave." He ordered.

Nodding frantically, the guards sprinted back out the door. Shade shook his head and walked up to the bar, ignoring the comments and whispering of the crowd of onlookers around him.

Finding a seat next to the twins, he crawled onto a seat and slumped onto the counter with a sigh.

"Can I help you?" A gruff voice asked in front of him. He looked in front of him to see a tall man with a black beard looking at him while cleaning a shot glass with a rag.

"What's with all the pack monsters around here? They should never be cooperating like this. Especially considering how the Greats and Dromes have a healthy rivalry between themselves." Shade questioned.

"Found them scrounging around my trash can. Since I got my hand on them translators, I asked their whereabouts and they told me they had went through a strange hole and landed in a field a few miles outside of the city limits. They apparently came to an agreement to work together and had been causing trouble in the streets by stealing food. The chaos was bad for business, so I offered them a place to stay here. Their leaders, the Greats and Dromes, help me out with management while their packs work as staff. Honestly, they really helped liven up the place. My bodyguards..." He pointed to the Twins that were gossiping with the pack leaders. "...have also smiled a lot more because of it."

"Uh huh... And everything they do here is legal?" Shade questioned.

"As long as business flows as usual, I don't care what they do, as long as they don't go behind my back." The bartender elaborated.

"Yeah. After all he's done, we're actually very thankful." Shade turned at the Bronx accented voice and saw it was the Great Jaggi, essentially a bigger, bulkier male with a mane of white fur running down his head and neck. He was rendered blind in his left eye by a pink scar running over it. Shade's eyes lit up in recognition.

"McJaggi? Is that you, man?" Shade said, surprised to see an old friend from his realm.

"The one and only, kid!" The Dog Wyvern laughed. "Ayo! Look who also landed in this place, boys!" He said to his fellow alphas, who all said their own greetings.

Back when Shade lived in the Old World, one of the few friends Shade had were these pack monsters, who ran a sort of network that had spanned across the continent. He did jobs for them that the pack monsters themselves wouldn't be able to do themselves, and they wound up becoming somewhat good friends. During the Frenzy Virus Epidemic, though, Shade was forced to cut off contact so that he could flee to the New World by sneaking aboard a ship.

Shade and the Jaggi Alpha gave each other a bro hug. "How has the family been, dude? Any new developments?" The Nargacuga asked.

"Aside from the packs uniting, no. My eldest boy had left the pack a short time before we came here, if that counts." McJaggi said.

Shade nodded, but a quick look around the place revealed something missing about the United pack. "Where's Dart and his Ioprey pack?" He asked.

"No clue." the Dog Wyvern shrugged. "We lost contact with them during the Epidemic. It's likely that the virus got 'em. Poor bastards."

"Shame." Shade agreed.

"Depressing crap aside, how've you been holding up in this new world?" McJaggi asked. "The Twins here said you were working with a team of huntresses from that school...um...Beacon, was it?"

"Yeah...Beacon..." The Nargacuga muttered, his mood dampening as his gaze dulled a bit. His Jaggi friend wasn't lost to his sudden change in behavior, and softened his features.

"Did...something happen?" He asked carefully.

"We...had a falling out." Shade sighed, his ears lowering. "Opposing points of view led to some things being said on both sides, and I flew off into the night. As much as it pained me to leave them, it may as well be for the best." The Wyvern said sadly. The Great Jaggi shook his head in sympathy.

"Damn, dude. That's tough." He said, turning to a plate of steaks placed out for him by the bartender, barking out a "thank you" as he walked off. "It's hard leaving your friends like that."

"I wouldn't say they were friends..." Shade said, not sounding certain with his words. McJaggi's orange eyes narrowed as he tsk'd.

"Imma be real with you, kid." McJaggi started, his voice taking on a heavy tone. "There comes a time in your life where you're gonna have to face your problems. You can't just keep distancing yourself away from others who want to help you." He said like a father scolding his child. He heard a growl coming from the black Wyvern, but refused to budge.

"You know I have a reason for that, M.J..." Shade hissed, his hellfire gaze shining as they glared at the Dog Wyvern. "I can't get close to anyone because I'm afraid of the pain of losing them!" He snarled.

"Then you have to be there to defend them!" McJaggi barked. "In my pack, we defend each other until our last dying breath!"

"You do not NOT know loss like I do!" Shade snarled. "I'm not going back, and that's fin-!!"

"Now, now! What's all the fuss about?"

Shade jumped at the familiar voice behind him. The charisma, the accent...

Could it be?

The Nargacuga turned around, and saw Roman Torchwick, same bastard he encountered the night he and Ruby met, standing there in all of his arrogant, stylish glory. Snarling, Shade prepared to lunge at the Crime Boss, only to find a sharp object at his throat.

He looked at the owner, and was baffled to see not that the blade was from an umbrella, but a short woman, shorter than even Ruby. Despite being petite, the girl was very attractive, with an athletic build covered by a leotard worn under form-fitting pants and a white and pink jacket. Her hair was the color of Neopolitan ice-cream, being white, pink, and brown. Her eyes, which had Heterochromia of pink and brown, bore into him with sadistic malice.

"Ah, Ah, ah." Roman said with a laugh. "I'm not here to fight, kitten."

"Oh? Than what are you doing then, Torchwick? Here to make my day shittier than it already is?" Shade snapped, ignoring the sharp point of the girl's umbrella threatening to puncture his neck.

"Nah, if he wanted a fight, shit would be exploding." McJaggi spoke up, making Shade snap his head toward the Dog Wyvern. "You know this prick?" The black Wyvern asked.

"Ran a few errands for him, yeah." The Great Jaggi said as if it wasn't involving one of the most powerful criminals in the Kingdom of Vale.

"You do realize that he's-!!" Shade began, but was cut off by the Jaggi Alpha.

"A scoundrel? Yeah, but outside of the crime, he's not a bad guy." McJaggi explained. "Right, Roman?"

"Yep." The criminal agreed. "Now, I'm sure you have a lot questions, yes?" He asked, to which Shade nodded hesitantly. "Well, I can answer them now, since my schedule is clear for the next couple of hours."

Shade's eyes narrowed in suspicion, unsure whether or not to trust the man before him. But, any new information could be useful for him in the future. So, he took a leap of faith.

"Alright, I'll talk, but first..." He pointed to the girl with his tail, who still had her umbrella blade at his throat. "Can you call off the midget?"

The girl apparently didn't like the jab at her size, and pressed the blade further into the fur on Shade's neck, touching Shade's scales and threatening to pierce them.

"Sure, but don't call Neo a midget. She's sensitive about her height." Roman warned before ordering Neo to release her hold on the monster. The Nargacuga heard her grumble for a moment, before she pulled away her weapon and let it rest on her shoulder.

Roman ordered the bartender, named Junior, to have a table for 3 arranged for them, to which the bearded man ordered some pack monsters to arrange a table and chairs for the 2 humans and monster.

The criminal ordered a shot of whiskey for himself, a small tub of ice-cream for Neo(rather fitting), and a bowl of milk for Shade. The trio sat in silence, the only noise being the sound of smooth jazz in the background and the bustling of customers along with Prehistoric sounds of the staff. Eventually, the ginger man spoke up.

"I guess you have a lot of questions?" Roman asked rhetorically.

"That ain't even the tip of the iceberg, dapper-boy." Shade snarked, scowling at the man. "If there was any time could've shown up, why do you show up when I'm in a bad mood?"

"'Cuz I may be an asshole, but there's still room for compassion in this hardened soul." Roman explained. "Plus, I can tell when something's biting your ass. What's biting you, my friend?"

The PsuedoWyvern's expression became somber. Should he tell him? Considering that he practically ruined his friendship with Team RWBY, he believed he had nothing to lose.

"So...you know that kid you fought the night I first arrived, the one you call Red?" Shade questioned, to which the criminal nodded. "Well...I got partnered with her and her team."

"Oh? So Little Red managed to get into Ozpin's little school early. How interesting." Roman said. "Too bad she had no idea what's coming."

"Hey! Don't underestimate the kid. She may be naive, but her heart is in the right place, unlike you." Shade snapped. Roman's smug expression faded a bit, and the Nargacuga smirked on the inside. Perhaps he struck a ne-

"Do you know why I do what I do, Shade?" The criminal asked, suddenly serious. Neo caught onto his tone and placed a hand on his shoulder in concern. Roman responded by ruffling her hair.

"Sometimes, ye- Wait. How the hell do you know my name?" Shade questioned.

"I have my ways." Roman replied simply. "But back on topic. I had trained to be a huntsman myself, as back then it was my passion to become a hero, for the fame and fortune. But I learned that being a hero isn't all sunshine and rainbows. I couldn't find any good work as a huntsman, so I turned to crime and never looked back. As much as it pained me to resort to such barbaric practices, it was too late for me to turn back." He explained.

Shade glanced at Neo. "And at some point, you met her?"

"Yeah. Neo was an only child, kept away from the world by her parents as a means to make her 'normal'." He did air quotes. "We met by chance, and after a while, Neo became my partner in crime and left behind her old life, and honestly, we couldn't be happier." He said as Neo hugged him.

Shade felt a small smile form on his beak. Neo viewed Roman like a big brother. It reminded him of how Ruby viewed Yang. The thought of them brought another pang of sadness to the Nargacuga's heart, and his expression became downcast. This was not lost to the criminal duo, who notice the Black Wyvern's change in demeanor.

"Hey, you alright?" Roman asked, concern uncharacteristically in his tone.

Shade took a breath and exhaled deeply. "You know how I worked with the Huntress team led by Ruby Rose, right?" He said before continuing. "Well...we had a falling out. Ruby's partner, Weiss Schnee, had gotten into an argument regarding the Terrorist Organization known as the White Fang with Blake Belladonna, who had been hiding both the fact she was a Cat Faunus and that she was a former White Fang member for weeks."

"Huh, a Schnee and a Faunus in the same room. Never a good combination." Roman commented, Neo nodding in agreement.

"Yep, I learned that the hard way. We all did." Shade said. "Blake ran out the door after she revealed her secret. I got pissed and would've hurt Weiss if Ruby hadn't stepped in. Her attempted intervention, however, resulted in her being put in the line of fire, and I hurt her. Filled with shame and regret, I flew off into the night, and I've been on the run ever since."

Roman didn't say anything as he took in this information, sharing a glance with Neo, who had stopped eating her ice cream as concern showed on her features. The criminal sighed and straightened himself.

"Shade, look. I get you don't want to face your mistakes, but if you don't face them and come to terms with those mistakes, they'll keep haunting you. It was a lesson I learned over many years." Roman said. "I've done many things that haunt me to this day, but as much as I want to right those wrongs, I've come to a point where some of these mistakes cannot, and probably never will, be fixed. What I'm trying to say is, try and right your wrongs while you still got time. Red and her friends will only remain forgiving for so long."

That speech rocked Shade to the core. Roman Torchwick, a prick, criminal, and natural liar, had a point. Shade knew that if he didn't apologize to Team RWBY soon, he may lose the respect and love he had acquired from everyone close to them.

With a renewed resolve, Shade looked the criminal in the eye and smirked. "You're right. I can't just run forever. I need to face my problems sooner or later, otherwise it'll just keeping biting at me." Shade said.

"That's the spirit!" Roman laughed, with Shade following not so long after. After everything else that happened, it felt good to laugh.

The trio chatted for another hour, telling tales of their many hijinks and misadventures, before Shade began to head out.

"Well, as much as I enjoyed talking with ya, Torchwick, I need to get going." The Nargacuga said as he got up and began to walk towards exit.

"A shame. So many interesting stories from one so young. You'd make a brilliant member of my faction." The ginger said.

"As much of a charmer you are, I'll have to turn it down. You have your way of life, I got mine." The Wyvern shot down Roman's offer. "Like you said, I got some mistakes to correct."

As Shade reached the sliding doors, Roman called out to him one last time.

"Shade!!"

The Nargacuga turned back to look at him.

"Don't lose sight of who matters to you. You don't know how good you have it with them until their gone." Roman said, a rare genuine smile on his face.

"I will! I promise!" The PseudoWyvern yelled one last time before exiting the club. Outside, Shade ran to a building and scaled it in order to resume sprinting across the rooftops, this time with a new goal in mind.

Find Blake.

Back inside the club, Roman pulled out his cigar and lit it before taking a healthy drag into his lungs. This Shade guy, even though they were on opposing sides, wasn't a bad soul at all.

"Gotta like that Shade fella, right Neo?" Roman asked his partner, who nodded. It was almost a shame their connection wouldn't matter in what was to come...

"So I see you and the cat got acquainted, yes?"

The gravelly voice behind him nearly made Roman inhale his cigar. 'I swear. That mutt will kill me with a heart attack one day.' He muttered internally, before turning to the source.

The creature had a thin, sinewy build, colored a deep crimson everywhere except his tail, which was tan and was built like a club. Walking on lithe legs, it's paws had sharp claws, with a secondary pair folded up neatly against the front of the legs. The scariest thing about it though, was it's ugly mug.

It's head was canine in appearance, with large nostrils and what appeared to be ears on each side of its head. It's teeth were huge, designed to sheer flesh and crush bone, and it's canine teeth stuck out of his jaws like tusks. Blue eyes, lacking pupils and eyelids, stared blankly at the world beyond them.

This, as Roman learned, was an Odogaron.

"Well, I wouldn't say we're friends, Hound." Roman said. "Just trying to be friendly, is all."

"Uh-Huh, and what about that plan from Fall? You didn't tell him about it, did you?" Hound asked, his claws clicking on the floor as he approached his partner.

"I didn't bring it up, don't worry." The ginger criminal reassured the Fanged Wyvern. "Besides, the less Shade and Red know, the better. It's bad enough that I'm working with people that are constantly breathing down my neck, but it's even worse when a bunch of kids is brought in." He said more quietly.

"Look, I hate that woman and her faction as much as you do, but we gotta play along until the time is right." Hound said, walking past the Crime Boss. "Now, I'm sure you remember the escape plan?"

"Yeah. If we're attacked and those animals can't hold the line, Neo will send Thorn to create a diversion and let me escape. I remember." Roman said.

"Good. In the meantime, I got a few things to do. Remember, rendezvous at the docks." The Odogaron declared before bolting off into another part of the club.

With his familiar gone, Roman sat back down and poured a shot of whiskey for both him and Neo. They were gonna need it for what was going down that evening.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That was nice, but who is this "Thorn" guy?

That, my friend, is a matter for next time...

Next chapter will be posted soon, so stay tuned.