Hello my friends, I am back with another chapter of Black Roses. Sorry for the long wait, as said in the previous chapter I would be rereading through Black Roses to and check over my notes, during that time I would be also working on Chapter 3 of Saiyan Instinct.

Not gonna say much on this chapter because if haven't noticed I don't like spoiling what's going to happen in the chapter or in later ones, so I keep quiet.

Know it all guy: Wow, your review left me really confused, so confused, I wasted a whole two hours doing research on Rose. Getting different types of information. Leaving me with quite a lot of questions still, in the end, I gave up. So for the sake of this story, I'm going to keep Super Saiyan Rose as a God form. But thanks for letting me know.

Reminder to those who have any fan art, or edits they would like to share, just pm me the link or check my profile and send it to the email I made. Doesn't matter if it's bad or good, art is art. Just don't send any lewd ones…

Anyways, with nothing else to say it's hop right into this Chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of DBZ/DBS or RWBY so please support the official release.

Sound of heavy breathing echoed the giant halls of the castle. A single Faunas running down the hall, only looking back for a second if he was being chased. Seeing that he wasn't he slowed down and came to a halt rest his back on the wall. The Faunas was none other than the Bull Adam Taurus. "What the hell…" Adam winched at the bleeding gash on his side. He remembered laying in bed and closing his eyes, next thing he knows, Adam wakes up in this…castle of some sort. Before he could try finding out where exactly he was, he was attacked by a shadowy figure with flame-like hair. Of course, Adam retaliated but was easily overpowered and ended up with the gash on his side. Knowing that he was going to be killed if he stayed there any longer, he ran. The figure calmly walked after him throughout the castle, thus causing him to end up here.

Adam looked left and right, "How big is this fucking castle? It feels like I've been running for hours." He rested his head on the wall and eased his breathing. His eyes felt heavy, probably from the effects of blood loss.

His ears picked up footsteps to his right, looking towards the sound. A shadow could be seen on the walls. Adam growled noting that his attacker had caught up. Forcing himself up he continued on ahead.

His vision became blurry with every step he took. After what felt like an eternity of walking, Adam finally saw a large door. "An exit?" With some new hope of escape Adam ignored his blood loss and ran to the door. Kicking the doors opens he expected to be met with cool air hitting his face but was only meet with a dark dead terrain. "What?"

The footsteps stopped behind him, quickly turning around he saw the shadowy figure stop a couple of yards from him. A smirk could be seen on the man's face. Adam gritted his teeth and took a cautious step back. An all familiar chuckle came from the shadowy figure causing his eyes to slightly widen.

Suddenly his arms were entangled in some kind of whip made out of the same tar as the Grimm. "What!" The whips pulled him out and slowly brought him to his knees. Adam used all the strength he could muster and to pull himself free. His attention was grabbed when the shadowy figure stepped in front of him and began to reach over towards his face, an evil aura surrounding his hand. He stared with wide eyes as the hand grew closer and closer. Shutting his eyes, he waited for whatever was going to come.

Adam shot up from his bed, sweating profusely, hyperventilating while holding his face. After several seconds he calmed himself and controlled his breathing. He let out a sigh of relief now that he came out of that. He winced and held his side, reaching down he pulled his shirt up and saw that there was nothing there, only a burning sensation of where he was cut. Letting his shirt go, Adam laid back down, a hand rested on his forehead.

Its been several weeks now. He thought he could control these…visions, but they were becoming more erratic and dangerous every time. He took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling. Maybe he should talk to Black about this now.

"HA!" A ki blast destroyed a boulder. Jaune stood there, slight exhaustion clearly visible. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and checked at his handiwork. "I think I've gotten the hang of this." He says, checking his hands.

"Hey Jaune," Ruby called out, "Watch this!" The redhead held her hands close to her chest and reeled back like a baseball pitcher. A ki orb formed in her hands, she then threw it at another boulder. The orb drilled in the boulder leaving a hole in the center. "Uh…nothing happened?" Jaune said.

Ruby gave a cheeky grin, "Heh," She snapped her fingers and the boulder exploded.

Jaune was amazed. "Whoa, how…how did you do that?"

"I don't know really. I had the idea of it and wanted to try it out." Rotating her arm.

"You're ki if a literal extension of your own power, which you can command it to do whatever you want." Black explained, leaning on a tree. "Expand, shrink, disperse, or explode. All it takes is to master ki control." The two partners listened on, "From the looks of it you've gotten quite the hang of controlling you Ki, Ruby." Ruby rubbed the back of her head and shyly laughed, her cheeks faintly flushing from the praise. "Jaune you still need a bit more work, but it seems that it's becoming second nature to you." Jaune smiled, now that he knew he was doing a lot better.

"Though the progress you have gotten is noticeable, you still have ways to go before mastering Ki control." Jaune and Ruby's became slightly serious. "Your bodies are still limited to how much ki you're able to use and hold, but within time and more training, you will be able to overcome those limitations and reach even greater heights of power. But for today, you've done well." Black said. Soon after Ruby and Jaune pumped their fists into the air. "YEA!"

He wasn't the best person to come up with a motivational speech, so he was glad what he said was enough. His eyes remained on Ruby. She has come a long way since her first attempt at Ki control. Surprisingly enough, her power was quite large, and it only increased by the day.

While her increase of power is something, he's been having his attention. There was something more particular he had his eye out. The unusually familiar power he sensed from Ruby when she finally brought out her power. It wasn't God Ki or at least nothing he's ever sensed before. No, the power that radiated from her in that one moment felt warm, calm, and…very ancient. Whatever it was he was hoping to see it again within her training, but to his disappointment, that odd power never resurfaced again. Remembering how her body glowed, her light spewing from her closed eyes. It was mesmerizing.

His eyes moved to Ruby's mouth, who was smiling as she and Jaune were talking. A warm feeling began to spread within Black's core to more he stared at that smile.

Feeling that someone was watcher her, Ruby looked at Black, who immediately looked away. She was confused for a second but brushed it away.

What the hell was going on with him. Recently these strange reactions he's been getting were becoming stronger. Is it truly because of this mortal body? Or is it because of something else. Whatever it is, he needed to get it under control.

Black suddenly went off, taking a look at who was calling him, he saw the name, Weiss. He raised a brow, she never called him before. He answered and put it on speaker, "What is it?"

"Can you try to be a lot nicer when someone calls you?" Weiss's voice caught the attention of both Jaune and Ruby. "I can, but I don't like you very much."

"I don't like you much either."

"Then why are you calling?" Annoyance clearly in his voice.

Sigh* "Have you seen Ruby? We haven't been able to reach her at all." Black looked up at Ruby who was checking her pockets. After realizing she had forgotten it in her room Ruby gave an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of her head. "Yes, I have. She's with me right now."

"What?! Where are you two!?"

"You're asking a lot of questions."

"Argh! Look just tell her the gang and I are heading out to Vale. And if she doesn't, she better not expect me to buy the new comic issue she's been waiting for." Weiss said, Ruby's eyes went wide and ran to grab the scroll. "Wait Weiss!" Before anything could be said though, Black hung up, much to Ruby's dismay.

"Whoops," He nonchalantly said.

"Whoops, my butt! You did that on purpose!" Ruby yelled.

"Did you forget that you're in the middle of training?" Black reminded.

"B-but it a limited issue, it'll be sold out by the time we're done with training today!" She retorted. All she got in return was a glare from her teacher. Ruby hunched down and groaning as she walked away. Black merely rolled his eyes at her childish behavior.

"Not gonna let you off the hook his he?" Jaune asked, now that Ruby was next to him.

"Yea," She sighed, but then a fierce look in her eyes formed. "No. I won't let this hold me back! That new limited-time comic book issue is calling my name and I won't let it slip through my hands!" She declared. "If I go now, I should be able to get there in time with my new speed. Plus right now the security of the Kingdom's wall should be low at this time."

"You still have to get past Black." The reminder of the ex-kaioshin presence placed a hold to Ruby's plan. She glanced at the silent warrior who had his eyes shut, in an almost mediating matter. Her brain began to think of a solution. If she just ran he would most defiantly react quicker and grab her before she gets too far. She needed something that could stop him for just a couple of seconds. Hitting him to the side was out of the question since neither of them have been able to land a single blow on him, even if she used her semblance, she highly doubts that she would reach him in time. "Come on Ruby think. A way to stun him without alerting him." Her eyes caught sight of an acorn, then the light of an explosion from Jaune ki blast hitting a boulder.

A light bulb flicked on. "Jaune," Hearing his name the blond teen looked towards his partner. "Come here, I need to tell you something." Motioning him to come closer. Leaning in Ruby began whispering something in his ear.

During that time, Black opened his eyes once again. He tilted his head when he saw Ruby whispering into Jaune ears. A nervous look befell on Jaune face at one point, leaving Black furthermore curious as to what she was telling him.

Ruby seemed to stop whispering and gave Jaune a nod, to which the boy hesitantly nodded back. The two then began walking around, grabbing boulders and piling them up.

Black raised a brow, watching the two piling more boulders. "What are you two doing?"

Jaune tensed up a bit, while Ruby stopped and glanced at him with a smile. "Jaune and I were planning on fire at the boulders at the same time. We just thought that we might need a bigger target."

"A merged attack. That sounded interesting, wonder how powerful their combined attack will turn out."

Ruby secretly smirked when she noticed Black's interested face. Placing the last boulder within the pile she took a couple of steps back. Now standing next to Jaune, Ruby stretched her arms. "Ready?"

"Uhh…y-yea I'm ready." The two took a position, their bodies facing each other, one arm stretched up behind them and the raised in front of them. Ki gathered in their hands behind them.

Black narrowed his eyes, just as they were about to launch their attack. Something hit him up top the head causing him to flinch and look up, "What the…"

"Now!" Ruby shouted, their ki was transferred to their other hand, twisting their bodies, they both faced towards Black and fired a ki blast. Black's eyes widen in surprise.

A large explosion followed from where Black stood. "RUN!" Ruby shouted the two-bolting past the smoke, running back towards the Kingdom as fast as they could. Not daring to look back in fear that Black might be right on top of them.

Shouting, grunting, and gunshots were heard coming from the arena. Some students took a peek inside the arena only to see two individuals fighting. Yang tilted left and right dodging some strikes, she ducked under a kick but wasn't fast enough to evade the second one that came around. Knocked to the side Yang caught herself with her hands and flipped back to her feet. She crossed her arms and tanked a blow, her feet digging into the concrete of the arena. Gohan passive face turned morphed into a smirk. Yang smirked back, bursting her arms out she pulled one fist back and hurled it at Gohan's face to which he moved out the way. Yang chased after him and let out a flurry punches, adding in some kicks whenever she could. Gohan merely leaned his head out of the way of her fists, sometimes using his palm or forearm to block her attacks.

He saw an opening and slipped past her. Yang quickly turned around but was not fast enough as she received a kick under the chin. Landing on her back, Yang laid there and tried to catch her breath. Slowly opening her eyes Yang was met with a smiling Gohan, with his hand stretched out to her.

Yang returned the smiled and took hold of his hand and was pulled back to her feet. "Your reaction time is getting better, as is the speed of your attacks." Gohan commented.

"Yea, but you're still kicking my ass." She laughed a bit at the end. Normally she would be annoyed and straight up frustrated at losing all the time, but not with Gohan, in fact she's kinda enjoying it, not in a masochistic way. No, she's just actually glad that someone's pointing out her mistakes. Sure her dad would do the same but he rarely pointed them out. Maybe it was because he didn't want to annoy her too much or maybe it was because she was daddy's little firecracker. Whatever the reason was, it doesn't matter. Gohan is here, helping her improve.

"Why don't we take a five-minute break. Just so you can catch your breath." Gohan suggested. Yang shrugged and sat on the edge of the arena, Gohan sat next to her and handed a bottle of water. Accepting it she chugged it down.

After taking her portion she set the bottle to the side and wiped her mouth. "Say Gohan, how are you so strong, is it your semblance?"

"No, you wouldn't believe me, but I haven't discovered mines yet."

Yang looked at him with wide eyes. "Seriously?!"

Gohan awkwardly laughed, "Yea, in fact, I had to ask Professor Glynda to unlock my Aura for me during my arrival at Beacon."

Yang sat there, mouth wide open. She couldn't believe her ears. This guy passed all his entrance exams without an Aura? Granted, the exams were kinda easy, but for someone without an Aura that should've been hella hard. "And she didn't send you home when you asked her to unlock it for you?"

"No, she's was surprised that's for sure." Gohan couldn't forget the face Professor Glynda made when he told her, he was really embarrassed.

"Man, you're just full of surprises aren't you Gohan." Yang playful punched him on the arm. The two sat quietly for a moment till Yang spoke, "So Gohan, the dance is in two weeks. You going?" Teasing him with a smug grin.

Gohan scratched his head, "Actually I've been thinking of not going."

"Huh, what not?" She asked, a bit surprised.

"Well, I'm not much of a dancer." He said with a light tint of red on his spread across his face. Yang burst out in laughter, much to his confusion. "Gohan, no one is really good at dancing, it's just all about moving with the beat."

"I don't know,"

Yang nudged him on the arm. "Come on, it'll be fun." She persuaded.

"Aren't you supposed to go with someone though?" He scratched his head, "…I don't really have anyone to go with." He said.

Wait does he not know that you don't need a partner to go to the dance. A mischievous grin formed on her lips. "Then why don't I go with you?"

Gohan stared at her, "You…go with me?"

"Sure, why not, it'll be fun. Plus, I can teach you a thing or two about dancing." She leaned in, grin she plastered on her face. Gohan leaned back, a blush slowly creeping into his cheeks. "O-Okay, I'll go with you." He said.

"Alright!" Yang jumped back to her feet. "Then it's a date" She says, winking at the end. Gohan blinked in confusion. He wasn't sure what it was but he felt like he was just got tricked into something. Shrugging it off he followed her back to the center of the arena to resume their training.

A red blur was seen running down the streets of Vale. Causing winds to blow flyers, trash, and some people to stumble. One citizen had to jump out of the way in fear of being rammed into, "Watch where you're going!" He yelled.

"Sorry!" Ruby shouted back before continuing down the street. After that blasting Black with their Ki Ruby and Jaune made haste to Vale once they entered the city the two split up in hopes of making it hard for Black to catch them.

"How much further?" She asked herself, reading the street signs, she figured where she was at. "It should be right around the corner!" Ruby panicked when she saw an elderly couple walking straight towards her. Thinking fast Ruby halted and flipped over them, landing with a roll she continued onward. She slid on the ground but she was going too fast and had to grab a lamp post to swing himself around to the right, unfortunately, when she did, she ended up tearing the lamp post off the ground. Ruby hissed at the damage she just caused.

"There it is!". Up ahead was the Remnant Universal Comics store. Excitement spread across Ruby's face. The limited comic issue was just mere yards away. "I'm here!" Just as she stepped on the sidewalk leading to the store, she was suddenly grabbed by her cloak causing her to choke a bit and fall on her bottom. "Hey what's the big i…dea…" Ruby's face turned blue, she thought some random person had grabbed her cloak, oh how wrong she was.

Black stared down at her with a look that seemed to drain the color from her body. "H-Hey Black. Funny seeing you here." She nervously said. "A-Are you here f-for the limited comic issue too?" Black said nothing and continued to stare at her. Ruby noticed his other hand being occupied, he then entangled his arm around Ruby's cloak and lifted her in the air.

Ruby panicked and tried running to the store but only managed to run in place due to Black's grip on her cloak. Ruby ran in place for a while, dust-gathering due to how fast her feet were going. Black gave a hard pull, sending her falling to her bottom. "Ow," Ruby whined, rubbing her behind.

Looking up she could very well see the annoyed look on his face. "Are you mad?" Ruby's innocently asked.

"Yes," She flinched, "At least I should be." Hearing this the Ruby questioningly stared at him. "I'm more…intrigued by that plan of yours you used to get rid of me."

Ruby nervously laughed, "Well…"

Flashback…

Placing the last boulder down, Ruby quickly broke a small piece off. She then took a couple of steps back she lifted her arms to stretch but at the same time throwing the pebble into the air. "Ready Jaune?"

"Uhh…y-yea ready." Jaune hesitantly responded. Taking their position next to each other, they raised one hand behind them gathering Ki in it. Ruby waited for the signal, "What the…"

"Now," Both twisting back around they transferred their Ki to their other hand and fired it at him.

Flashback end…

"It wasn't that great of a plan." Ruby admitted it was just luck that Black was distracted long enough with that pebble for her and Jaune to launch their attack.

"Still, you both managed to get past me. Using a Ki blast none the less. So, I'll let you off the hook this time." Hope filled Ruby's eyes. "But don't make this a habit." He pointed, "Or I won't be as forgiving next time." Ruby salutes with a smile. Black walked up to the store with Ruby following closely behind. He was gonna deal with Jaune later.

Entering the store, Black was met with a cardboard standup of Great Saiyaman and next to him…Dark Saiyaman. He already wanted to blow this store up. "…Aren't these merchandises supposed to made for only for heroes? Why is he getting them?" Black asked, seeing Coffee mugs and shirts with him on it. He never expected his popularity to be so high

"It's because he's Great Saiyaman's archnemesis. The two are always battling one another that everyone on Remnant is in awe. It's like straight out of a comic book!" Ruby crossed her arms and gazed at the standup cardboard of Dark Saiyaman. "Ya know, now that I 'm looking at him closely, Dark Saiyaman looks pretty cool." Black glanced at the redhead teen, feeling somewhat delighted to know what Ruby thought of his disguise.

"Oh, costumers." An old lady said from behind the counter.

"Hello." Ruby waved.

The old lady smiled, "Please, take a look around." Ruby walked around for a bit till her eyes landed on a shelve that held a sign Latest Issue. Running up to it she scrambled through the shelve. After a minute of searching, Ruby fell to her knees. "It's not here. I was too late." She whined.

Then something tapped her on the shoulder. Looking at it she saw it was a rolled-up comic book. Glancing up she saw Black looking down at her, he twitched his brow at the comic he held in his hand. Eyes moving back to the comic, she took a hold of it and unrolled it. Her eyes lit up and happily smiled before jumping and wrapping her arms around Black neck bringing him into a hug. Black's eyes widen in surprise and practically froze in place, his tail began wagging again.

Ruby released him of the hug skipped happily to the counter. Black blinked his surprised state away and glanced at the redhead, his chest was furiously beating. He saw the comic book she was looking for sticking out from another shelve so when he saw her depressed at not being able to find what she came here for, he decided to cease her whining and gloomy state by handing the one he found. He did not expect her to jump and hug him like that. The feeling of her body being so pressed up close to his was very strange, she felt so fragile that if he would've returned the action, he would most likely have broken her. It was such an odd feeling that he did not understand yet…he liked it…

Seeing the smiling face of Ruby just caused the feeling to grow stronger. It was just like what he felt back in the forest, or during those other times when they were alone together. He ripped his eyes away from the redhead, not even noticing the small tint of red creeping on his cheeks.

What was this human doing to him?

Ruby happily hummed and laid the comic book in front of the old lady to scan. The old lady smiled, "Take it." She slid it back to Ruby.

Ruby raised a brow, "But I have to pay." She pointed out.

The old woman merely chuckled, "I know, I just don't want all your efforts in coming here to be shot down from the price of this." She tapped on the on her screen. Ruby's face turned blue. The price of the comic book was over 50 Lien. She didn't have that kind of money on her now. The old lady must've known she was right because she laughed at Ruby's reaction. "Just promise me you'll take care of it."

Ruby shook her head to rid of her shocked expression and smiled at old woman, "I will. Thank you!"

Ruby was handed the bag containing her comic book, the old woman stared past Ruby at Black. "You have such a nice young man, helping you find your book." Ruby looked up at the old woman and turned around to look at Black.

The ex-kaioshin was looking at a comic he grabbed from the shelve. He looked completely and utterly confused as to what made these 'comics' so interesting.

Ruby scratched her head and gave an awkward laugh, "Yea, I'm glad to have someone like him with me."

The old woman chuckled, which caught the red head's attention, "What?"

"Sorry, I just forget how adorable young love can be." She said with a smile, causing Ruby's face to turn red, "L-Love! It's isn't like that." Waving her hands in denial, "We aren't like that." She quietly said the last part while tapping the tips of her fingers together, "Plus, I don't think he feels the same."

"Really? I say otherwise," Ruby leveled her eyes back to her, wondering what she meant by that. A smirk was plastered on the older woman's lips, "His tail was wagging." This newfound news surprised her. She looked over her shoulder at Black. "He was…happy?"

"He certainly was, at least in my point of view." The old woman rested her elbow on the counter.

Black walked up to the counter with a comic and Saiyaman shirt. "You ready?" He asked Ruby.

"Yea, you buying those?" Pointing at the comic and shirt in his hands. "Mm, Lewis wouldn't stop whining at how he never got a Great Saiyaman shirt during Saiyman day and the comic for Alli." Placing them on the counter, "How much will that be?"

"That will be…" Scanning the last time comic book, "48.78 Lien." Black reached in his pocket and handed her the Lien, a bit to much though.

As the old lady opened the register, Ruby had her eyes on Black who was waiting for his change. Black felt her eyes on him and turned his head towards her, "Hm?"

Ruby stiffened, "Ah-I uh was just-umm." Ruby looked away rubbing the back of her neck, "It's nothing."

A brow was raised as confusion befell on Black. The old lady saw what happened and let out a chuckle, Black looked at the woman wondering what she was laughing at, "What?"

"Oh, I just remembered something funny that's all." The old woman assured. She bagged his comic book and shirt and handed them back to Black. "Thanks,"

"Your welcome," The old woman waved the trio goodbye as they exited the store. "Have a good day. Oh and Ms. Ruby," The redhead stopped and turned her head. "Good luck." The old woman winked. For the second time today Ruby's face turned red, she looked up at Black who was giving her an odd look. The embarrassment being too much for her Ruby hid her face in her hoody. Black raised a brow at this. Something was definitely going on here, and he has a feeling that it something to do with him.

The scene made the old woman giggle.

Once they were all outside Black faced Ruby, "I hope that comic is worth ending training early today?"

Ruby grinned, "Heck yeah it is," Opening her bag she reached in, "Its limited edition, meaning those only a handful of these copies in the wor-," A look of confusion appeared on her face. In her bag were two comics instead of one, pulling the other one out her eyes widen when it read that it was another limited issue but this one is one she has never seen before, in fact, she doesn't think this one was ever released. "Umm guys, I'll-I'll be right back." Ruby headed back inside the store.

Upon entering a man walked out from the back, "Hello, welcome to Remnant Universal Comics, how can I help?"

"Yea, do you know where the old lady that was here went?"

"I'm afraid that I don't know what you are talking about." He replied.

"The old lady that works here," Ruby clarified.

"I'm sorry miss but there isn't any old lady that works here." Now Ruby was really confused. "But I saw her just a minute ago."

"I'm sorry miss. I really have no clue who this person you're referring to is. I'm the only one that works here." The man said.

"But…" Her eyes fell to the ground. What's going on, that old lady was definitely here. Black even saw her. "S-sorry, I probably just…sorry," Ruby exited the store.

"Did you forget something?" Black asked.

"Uh…no I saw another comic in there and thought about buying it but decided against it."

"Could it be because you lack the significant funds?" Black questioned.

Ruby gave an awkward laugh. Well, he's not wrong about that. Her stomach started rumbling. "I could really go for some food right about now. You?"

"Not really hungry," Immediately his stomach growled, Black gritted his teeth and looked away trying to hide his red face. Ruby giggled at this, "There's a pizza shop downtown."

"…Fine," Black crossed his arm.

In a different part of the city, Adam was seen walking down the streets of Vale. Some might ask, don't you know you're a wanted man? Of course, he knew, he's not an idiot. That's why he had changed his appearance a bit before coming to Vale. He dyed his hair blue, and left his jacket, leaving him only in his red shirt, black leather gloves, black pants, and black shoes. He, of course, left his mask and weapons back at camp. He didn't need to worry about someone picking a fight with him, even without Blush and Wilt, Adam was still a force to be reckoned with.

Now, some might say his 'change' of appearance was quite a simple one, but humans and some faunas are not that perceptive. He just doesn't have to bring attention to himself. Or at least that's what he hoped.

Since the moment he entered Vale was being ogled by quite a few women, both human and faunas. Hell, he had three women come up and talk to him for a whole 5 minutes before he told him he had to go. One even asked him if he wanted to have some 'fun'. He wasn't interested in any of them at all and tried his best to ignore them, without being too rude. But it didn't help that he was also receiving some glares from the men for catching the eyes of women in the area.

Adam stopped at a stop sign and waited for the signal to cross the street to come up. He heard a commotion to his left, when he looked over he saw a couple of girls immediately turn away giggling.

Adam let out a sigh, "So much for being discreet." He quietly said. The walk sign turned on, crossing the street Adam continued down. He remembered Black was supposed to be in Beacon as a student, but he wasn't about to go and look for him there. Someone might grow suspicious of him and he wasn't about to risk having the entire Kingdom on him.

He let out a yawn, rubbing his eye. He hasn't been able to get much sleep these past couple of days, due to the visions he's been receiving at night. Stopping by a coffee shop, Adam decided to get something to wake himself up.

Reaching for the door he was pushed to the side by a girl with orange hair, immediately a boy came running after her, "Nora we still have to pay for that!"

Adam raised a brow and chose to ignore them. When he opened the door, he was bumped into again, this time hot coffee was spilled all over his shirt dripping to his pants as well. A gasp followed suit, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" The girl apologized.

While the coffee did burn him a bit, it still didn't bother him too much. "It's fi-," His eyes widen when they were met with light blue eyes, the white color hair caused alarms to go off in his head. "A Schnee!."

"Umm…here you go mister." A quiet voice said bringing him out of his thoughts. Looking past the Schnee he was met with another girl this time a faunas and strangely familiar due to the brown fluffy tail twitch behind her. "I-its fine," He accepted the napkins she held out and began cleaning himself. Surprising enough the Schnee was bow at him, "I'll buy you new clothes."

This took Adam by surprise. A Schnee, offering to buy new clothes for him? He held up his hands, "Its fine really."

"No, it is not, I spilled coffee on you and got your clothes dirty." The Schnee retorted.

He was about to say something back till someone else spoke up, "Oh my, what happened here?" A girl with red hair and green eyes came up with some coffee in her hands. "Weiss spilled coffee all over this guys clothes." Adam nearly jumped when another voice came from behind. Turning around he saw that it belonged to the girl named Nora.

"It was an accident. Furthermore, you are to blame, leaving me to carry both yours and Ren's coffee while he chased after you for trying to steal." Weiss said with a light glare.

"Hey, I knew you would pay for it, so I wasn't technically stealing." Nora replied with a smug grin. She was then light chopped up top the head by Ren.

"You still shouldn't be doing that." Ren scold.

Weiss rubbed her temples and turned back to Adam, "There's a cloth store just around the corner, and no its not fine. It's the least I can do." Weiss said.

"It's best that you accept it." Pyrrha whispered to him, Alli nodding her as well.

"…Very well," Walking out they headed to the store. "So, what's your name?" Nora asked.

Adam stayed silent for a bit, contemplating whether he should answer that, especially with a Schnee literally right next to him. But if he didn't... "It's Michael." He lied.

"Well, Michael, I'm Weiss Schnee." Placing a hand on her chest emphasizing who she is.

"Yea…I know," Adam said,

Nora snickered, "What gave that away?" Hands rested behind her head.

"The eyes and hair." He said. It was true though; he best remembers them through those features. True some people might have a similar appearance, but Adam's seen enough members of the Schnee family to tell them apart.

Weiss's face went slightly red, she was used to people already recognizing her, but the way he said it was well…unexpected. Of course, there were some guys that would say the same thing, but they would always say it in a flirty way, Michael here didn't. So, it caught her off guard a bit. "Oh, what's wrong Weiss, your face looks a little red." Nora teased.

"Nora," Ren warned.

"Be quiet, I just didn't expect him to say that." Weiss argued causing the ginger to giggle, "Anyways I'm Nora, this here is Ren," Pointing at the boy next to her, "Over there is Pyrrha,"

"Hello!" The five-time champion waved.

"And that adorable little squirrel fauans is Alli." The faunas became extremely red from being called adorable. "H-hi," She quietly greeted.

Adam oddly stared at her, a bit in tranced by her twitching tail, "Where have I seen that tail?" Unknowing to him Nora had leaned into him, "She's a bit shy."

"…I see…"

They arrived at the store, Nora looked around for clothes for Adam, as did Weiss. In less than a minute Adam was being given a large pile of clothes for him to choose. He was too shocked to even say something.

Luckily Pyrrha saw this and stepped up for him, "Weiss, Nora, I think it would be best if you let Michael chose his own clothes. We're here to get him a pair of dry clothes, not get him a new wardrobe."

Weiss stopped in her tracks, realizing she was right. "Oh right, sorry." She was not used to 'making it up' for others.

From within the pile of clothes, Adam grabbed three pieces of clothing. Entering the changing room, he took off his wet clothes and replaced them with dry ones. When he exited the room, the group was a bit in awe had how good he looked. "Wow, so you're the type that looks good in anything." He was now wearing a button-up red shirt, blue jeans, and red sneakers. "Heh let see if he looks good in something goofy."

"Nora." Ren warned again.

"I know, I'm just kidding."

Adam handed Weiss the tags of the clothes he wore. Taking them to a register she had them scanned and paid. In the meantime, Adam was folding up his sleeves. His mind wandering back to the Schnee. He found it very strange to have a Schnee be so nice, especially someone like him. A Faunas. Could you blame him? Most of his life was tormented by her family, so having her buy clothes for him as a way to apologize for spilling coffee on him, was just bizarre.

"Alright, your clothes are paid." Weiss handed him an empty bag, "Here, for your wet clothes."

"Thanks," Adam said, placing the wet clothes into the bag. His eyes remained on the wet cloths. Weiss noticed this and spoke up, "Is something wrong?"

Adam stayed silent for a second before raising his eyes up, "It's hard to believe that a Schnee would be buying clothes for a Faunas like me." He finally said.

The eyes of the others widen a bit, sure they were kinda expecting him to bring it up at some point but the seriousness in his voice was well…it surprised them. They were worried about how Weiss was going to react.

Weiss didn't seem to be fazed by his words, "I'm not like the rest of my family." She said with a straight face.

The Faunas and Schnee stared down one another. Before Adam was the first to speak up, "Right…" Was all he said before looking away.

Feeling how tense the air was right now Pyrrha intervened. "S-So Michael, we were going to go visit the dock to meet some of the students from the other academies. Would you like to come with?"

Adam was going to say no, but then he gave it some thought. Beacon students are most likely going to the docks to measure up the other schools. Black might not need to do that considering how powerful he is, but his curiosity will most likely get the best of him. Besides, if he remembers correctly Roman's hideout is somewhere by in an abandoned warehouse near the docks as well. He might know where exactly Black. "Very well, I'll accompany you lot."

"Great! Vale docks, here we come!" Nora pumped her fist in the air before marching out the store, the others following suit. Weiss stayed back her eyes on the floor. "Weiss," The Schnee's eyes leveled up. Alli was standing there. "Oh, its nothing really." Weiss says before walking past Alli. The squirrel faunas stared worriedly for her friend.

Back to Black and Ruby the duo was seen walking down the street to the burger shop. During their walk Ruby was explaining to Black what made comic so fun to read, but no matter how many times she tried to explain it or simplify it for him, he could not understand it.

"I still don't see the point of him revealing his identity. If he wanted to protect the ones he cares about wouldn't it be more logical to just keep his identity a secret, he practically placed a large target on himself and those he cares." Black said,

"Yea, but he's a super genius billionaire, true that there were going to be hardships along the road of revealing his secret to the world, but Stone will always find a way to overcome those hardships and beat his enemies. Yes, he might sound and act arrowgant-."

"Arrogant," Black corrected,

"That's what I said," Black raised a brow. "But he's so much more than that. He's someone that truly cares about those around him and will practically do anything to protect them. Granted his social skills are pretty bad when it comes to expressing his feelings, but he does what he can through his actions. He's one of the coolest superheroes I've ever read. The guy literally created a new type of Dust! I mean no one in the world could ever do that, not even Atlas!" Ruby nearly shouting the last part with pure excitement.

Bearing his usual passive look Black crossed his arms, "It's fiction." His words caused Ruby to sigh deeply. "I don't think you'll ever understand the awesomeness of Mr. Stone."

Black rolled his eyes, "That's why I told you not to waste your time."

"I know, I know, but still," She looked away with a pout, "I was hoping that I co-," Her words were cut short when laughter was heard. Up ahead a group of kids were seen surrounding someone. At first glance it looked they were messing around with one of their friends. But when looking closely they could see that they were pushing around a crying little faunas girl.

"Haha, look at her she's crying." Kid number one said.

"She's is? I never knew monsters can cry." Kid number two mocked.

"What's that she's holding?" Kid number 3 pointed out pushing the little girl.

"It's a sketchbook." Kid number 4 said, pushing the little girl to the ground.

"Gimme that." Kid number 5 ripping the sketchbook from the girl's hand.

The faunas girl gasped when she felt the book leave her hands, "No! Give it back!" The little girl tried to grab her book back, but she was pushed back to the ground. "Look she draws."

One of the kids grabbed a page and ripped it. "Whoops."

Tears welled up in her eyes, "No, please." She reached over but was kicked to the floor again.

"Animals like you should stay on the ground," Kid number one grabbed a rock and raised it up, "And eat dirt!" Chucked it, the faunas shielded her head and shut her eyes, and waited for the rock to hit her. But as she waited, it never came. Slowly opening her eyes again she was met with a red cape. Looking up she could see it belong to a girl. She couldn't make out her face though.

The bullies took a step back, shocked to see this person just suddenly appear in front of them. Ruby held the rock that was thrown, "Leave her alone." She said.

One of the bullies mustered some courage and stepped up. "Why? She's an animal! A freak!" The bullied pointed. Ruby glanced over her shoulder to the little faunas girl who was covering her ears in shame. The sight angered Ruby, she looked back at the bullies with a light glare. She crushed the rock she held, scaring the bullies a bit. "She's a person." Ruby stated.

One of the bullies took a step back and turned to run but bumped into someone. Looking up she was met with a pair of black color eyes which scared the color from her. Her fear only grew when she saw a tail dangerously waving behind him. The bully fell on her bottom gaining the attention of the other bullies, as they looked back, his glare scared them.

"Beat it." Was all Black said, and just like that the bullies ran away. Black's eyes followed them before letting out a scoff.

Ruby smiled at Black, she then turned to the little girl behind her. Crouching down Ruby looked at her lowering her head a bit. "Hey, it's okay. They're gone."

The little faunas girl hesitantly looked up at her. Ruby's eyes widen when her eyes met with hers. From behind Black was also quite surprised. One eye was a beautiful aqua color and the other was warm bright gold. "Your eyes they're…" Ruby started.

The little immediately covered her eyes, "I-I'm sorry."

Ruby blinked a couple of times, before shaking her hands in front of her. "No, no no no, there's nothing wrong with your eyes. They're actually pretty cool."

The little faunas girl slowly lowered her hands, "R-Really?" Ruby nodded her head with a smile.

"Heterochromatic iridium, the separate color of eyes. A rare trait." Black said, taking a step forward. When the little girl saw him, she shrunk in fear, causing him to cease his approach. He raised a brow, unsure what he was doing that was scaring her. "Hey Black," Ruby whispered. "How about you lose the glare."

Black stared at the redhead for a second before looking back at the little girl, she hid behind Ruby again. With a sigh, Black lost the glare and soften up his features. When he did, the little girl finally peaked her head out from behind Ruby. Black took a step forward, "I think this belongs to you." Handing her sketchbook.

The little girl hesitantly took her sketchbook back, holding close to her chest. "So, what's your name?" Ruby asked.

The little shyly looked up, "I-I…my name is…Eby, i-its short for E-Ebony."

"Eby, that's a cute name. My name is Ruby," She said with a smile. "And this guy here is Black." Point her thumb back.

For some reason, the smile this lady was giving her made her feel safe. "Thank you," She quietly says with a small smile. With that, her folded faunas ears stood up. "Whoa, cute kitty ears." Ruby said.

"They're wolf ears." Black corrected, Ruby glanced at him before looking back at Eby for conformation to which she nodded her head. "Oh, well wolf ears are cute too." She says with a bright smile.

A red blush spread across Eby's cheeks, "Thank you." She said again. Eby stood straight up.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's kind of drawings do you do?" Ruby asked, remembering the bullies mention drawings in Eby's sketchbook.

"I…draw anything I see. Trees, cars, buildings, flowers, people, or birds." Eby held her sketchbook tightly to her chest. "W-Would you like…to see?" She nervously asked.

"Sure." Ruby said, the two walked up to the bench, Ruby looked back at Black and motioned him to follow, which he did. Taking their seats with Eby in the middle and Ruby and Black on both her sides. The little wolf girl opened her sketchbook to one of her drawings.

The eyes of both of teens widen in shock, they expected a simple drawing but what they were looking at was beyond that. The drawing they were looking at was that of a little bird, every detail of it was drawn as well as the branch it was sitting on and the small twig in its beak.

Eby was beginning to feel nervous as no reaction came from the two teens. Until. "Holy cow! That's amazing! H-How old are you!?" Ruby asked.

"…I'm seven."

Both Ruby and Black looked at each other with dumbfounded faces. "Y-You're kidding. You drew that all by yourself?" Again, Eby nodded shyly.

"I must say, you have quite-no-you have incredible talent. To grab all these details on a moving object is no easy task. It most impressive, especially someone your age." Black's praise caused Eby's face to redden.

Ruby rested her cheek on her palm, "Man I wish I could draw as good as you." Then an idea struck her. Jumping to her feet she faced the faunas girl. "Oh-oh, could you draw me with a super cool getup?"

The faunas girl seemed confused by her request. "She wants you to draw her kinda like Saiyaman." Black clarified. The faunas girl looked up at the older teen before facing back to the redhead. "The superhero?"

"Yup," Ruby says, as she chose a pose for her to draw. (The ending pose of xenoverse 2 Great Saiyanman 2 emote). The little girl stared at her weirdly but none the less smiled and began drawing.

After 10 minutes of drawing, Eby added the final details and lifted her book. It was like that of Saiyaman's suit but was unique. "Wow, you even added a cool looking helmet on me, nice." A rumbling sound came from Eby's stomach causing her to redden and hide her face behind her book.

Black and Ruby glanced at each other before returning their eyes back to the faunas girl. "Say, we were on our way to eat some pizza, you wanna join us?"

Stars appeared in Eby's eyes, "Pizza," She softly said, drooling a bit at the thought of eating pizza. Ruby giggled at this. "You don't mind, right Black?"

Black crossed his arms, "No, I don't."

"See, now come on." Eby nodded her head and followed Ruby and Black to the pizza shop. After a short walk they arrived at the shop they took their seats around a table. A waiter then walked up to their table. "Hello, how may I take your order?"

"Two extra-large pepperoni pizzas please." Ruby ordered.

"Okay," Writing it down his notebook, "Anything to drink?"

"Umm, I would like to have a strawberry smoothie please." Ruby requested.

"Apple juice for me." Eby said hers.

"…Water." Black finally said his. The waiter placed his notebook away went to the kitchen. As they waited for their food, Ruby folded one of the napkins and started playing paper football with Eby with Black just eyeing the paper toy back and forth. "What, are you two doing?"

"Hmm, we're playing paper football. Wanna join?" Ruby said, passing him the piece of paper. Black examined the paper. "You hold it between your two fingers," Black did as instructed. "And with your other hand, you flick it between the goal which is between my two hands." Aiming at the 'goal' Black readied his fingers then…

Ruby's eyes widen and twisted her body out of the way as the piece of paper went flying past her and embedding itself into the wall.

A nervous sweatdrop dripped down the side of Ruby's face, "M-Maybe we should find something else to pass the time." Eby suggested. Ruby agreed. Black looked away, a bit embarrassed at how he messed up on such a simple game.

Lucky the waiter came back with their pizzas. "There you go," Another waiter walked up to the table, "Here are your drinks." Placing the drinks to their respected customer. "Enjoy." With that the waiters excused themselves.

Ruby grabbed a slice and took a bite. Moaning at the delicious taste. Eby took a bite of hers and sighed with satisfaction. They quickly finished their slice and grabbed another, all the while Black stared at them, his eyes moved to his slice he was holding. He's never had this 'pizza' before, but from the looks on their faces it must be good. His stomach growled again. He held the pizza up and brought it to his mouth before taking a bit.

Black eyes slightly widen. This pizza it, it was good. He quickly finished his slice and grabbed another one and finished that one as well. He went on till he reached over for his eighth slice he noticed two pairs of eyes watching.

Ruby and Eby both stared at how fast the ex-kaioshin was eating. "I-Its good pizza." He says, looking away from embarrassment. "Yea we noticed." Ruby giggled.

Black's eyes then caught sight of some of the tomato sauce around Eby's mouth. Grabbing a napkin, "You should eat more properly." Wiping it from her face. Eby was a bit taken aback by the action.

"Heh, you're one to talk." Black raised a brow at the redhead, unsure by what she meant by that. Seeing that he was confused Ruby pointed at her mouth to show her meaning. Somewhat understanding her, Black grabbed the napkin holder and looked at himself. He gawked at how messy his mouth was. Witnessing his reaction, Ruby burst with laughter. Black gritted his teeth and hung his head down in an attempt to hide his red face.

A light tap on his arm brought his attention to his side. Eby was holding out for him a napkin of her own. He kindly accepted it and wiped his mouth clean.

He was making a fool out of himself today.

"I never took you to be such a messy eater." Ruby joked.

"Be quiet! I was extremely hung-BUURRP*." The entire shop shook from his burp, causing eyes to turn their way. Ruby and Eby blinked a couple of times before bursting with laughter. Black remained sill, processing what just happened right now.

Black felt disgusted with himself, letting such a sound emanate from him. As he was groaning his shame away, a hand rested itself on his arm. Looking down, Black was met with a heartfelt smile from the faunas girl. "There's nothing to feel ashamed about Mr. Black. It happens even when you least expect it."

"Yea lighten up. Burping isn't a crime. Though it's a good thing Yang and Nora aren't here, or they would've taken that as a challenge." Ruby said the last part more to herself than out loud.

"I guess you have a point." Black said, his stomach then growled again, not as loud as before but enough for him to hear. He was still hungry. Which was odd because eating this much would fill him up. Strange.

Eby got up from the table, "I have to use the bathroom."

"Oh, I think there's one of there." Ruby pointed. Eby nodded and walked away, leaving Ruby and Black alone.

The table was quiet. A bit too quiet for Ruby, glancing over to Black. He had his head turned to the window, sipping his cup of water. Ruby let out a sigh, her mind then wandered off to what the old lady said. "His tail was wagging."

She imagined Black's tail happily wagging like a dog. "So cute." She giggled. Her eyes were then drawn to his backside where his tail was. She was curious to see if the old lady was telling the truth.

Mustering all her courage she looked forward and she slowly, very slowly leaned her head, till it rested on his shoulder. Ruby's heart-pounding at what she was doing. Her cheeks flushed red. "This s-should be enough, right?" She slowly shifted her head to view his tail only to be disappointed by seeing it not react as she was told.

"What are you doing?" Black's sudden voice caused her to turn her head up which was a huge mistake. Their faces ended being so close, their noses practically almost touching. His deep black eyes staring into hers.

"Eh? AH!" Ruby jumped back in her seat. Her face burning red, swirls in her eyes. "I-uh-I-was-umm." She could find the right words to explain what she was doing. "I was just…wondering." Her eyes then caught sight of something, "About your earring!" She pointed.

Black touched his earring, "My earring?"

"Yes! I never seen a guy wear one before! But it looks good on you!" Oh, badly Ruby wanted to shrink away right now.

"Ms. Ruby." Eby's voice startled Ruby causing her to jump in her chair.

"Is everything okay?" Eby asked.

"Ah Eby, yea, everything is A-Okay!" Ruby quickly said before gripping her smoothie and slurping it. Eby looked at her strangely then looked at Black who was facing away but a clear tint of red could be seen on his face. Then something clicked in Eby and a smiled before taking her seat and resuming with her pizza.

After finishing the second their pizza and their drinks, Ruby, Black, and Eby headed out. "Mmmmhmmm," Ruby stretched. "Man, I'm stuffed. How about you Eby?"

"Yes, I am quite full too. Thank you so much for the food." Eby bowed.

"Hey, no problem. Say it's getting pretty late. Why don't we take you home?"

"Yes please." Eby said.

"Where do you live?" Black asked.

"By the far east wall of Vale." Eby answered.

Ruby raised a brow, "All the way there? I didn't know there were homes there." Ruby said. Black was also a bit confused by this. The east side was most commonly known for their workshops, bars, and criminal activity.

"Yea, my home is considered to be kinda special than others." Eby tried explaining but only resulted in more confusion.

Over by the docks, Pyrrha and the others were greeting some of the new arrivals of the other Kingdoms. Showing them the way to Beacon on their maps, informing them wherein Beacon they'll be staying at, and pointing out the interesting location they should visit in Vale. While they were doing all that, Adam kept his distance, leaning over the railing. He watched from above as the group of friends welcomed every single student, both human and faunas.

Letting out a sigh he lightly banged his head on the railing. What is he doing? He's supposed to be looking for Black yet here he is, watching a couple of Beacon students welcoming others to Vale. Or at least start looking for Roman Torchwick's hideout. It should be somewhere around here.

Light steps came from behind him before someone now stood next to him. Taking a glance at who it was, he saw that it was the Schnee. Adam was a bit surprised seeing the Schnee accompany him up here, but paid little mind to it and focused his eyes back to the docks. A minute went by as silence between the two continued on. Until… "Did my family do something bad to you?"

Adam gave her a brief glare. "Yea, that was a stupid question." Weiss said, looking away.

"I suggest you don't say anything else then." Adam warned.

Another minute of silence went by before finally Weiss let out a sigh and turned to him. "I know what my family has done. I'm not blind."

A scoff left Adam's mouth, "You don't know the slight idea of what your family, your father as done to my kind."

The mention of her father caused Weiss to look down. A mix of disappointment and sadness came across her face. "Your right," Adam looked at her from the corner of the eye. "I don't know everything they-he's done. Only the rumors that go around. Honestly, I don't really want to know, because it'll only bring me more shame to how tainted my family name has become." Weiss frowned at the things she's heard that her father has done. Those thought then lead to her childhood, "I…I don't know exactly what you and others went through."

"That's right," Adam's voice caused her to look up at him. He pushed off the railing, now standing straight up. "You don't have the slightest clue of what I went through. What the others went through!" Creaking sounds came from the railing as Adam's hand began to crush it. "You're a Schnee. You had everything since the day you were born. A home, family, people who loved you, cared for you." The railing finally snapped in his hand. "I had none of that. I was despised from the day I was born. Treated like trash. Everyone looking at me like I'm some sort of monster when I was nothing more than a child. The label humans, the Schnee placed upon me said otherwise." Adam clenched his fists, his eyes burning with anger.

Any normal person would've fallen to their knees from terror under Adam's hateful glare, but surprisingly Weiss stood her ground and looked straight in the eyes. She let out a sigh before saying, "Seven," Adam stood there wondering why she said that. "Seven years ago, my father finally admitted to my mother that the only reason he married her was for the money, power, and the family name. It was on the day of my birthday too." Weiss's eyes fell to the floor, some presented on her face as memories of that day filled her mind. Adam was a bit surprised by this, but before he could say anything Weiss continued. "At first it was minor avoidances, dinners, recitals, and hallways. As time moved on those minor avoidances escalated into…larger avoidance. No more dinners, no more recitals, no more…family." Adam said nothing. A small chuckle left Weiss's mouth. "Last time I saw my mother, I saw at least ten empty bottles of wine."

"…Why are you telling me this?"

Weiss leveled her eyes back to him, "I will never know what the faunas have to go through, what you went through. But don't assume my life was a perfect one because it wasn't. Even people like me fall victim to hardships caused by others. It just that some of us have to fake that everything is ok."

Adam was at a loss of words. He's met a couple of Schnee before, as well as close partners to them. Many of them wore masks, concealing their true selves from others, only letting it show when it came to the faunas. But this girl, Weiss, she wasn't wearing one right now. No, those sad filled eyes were real.

But still, she's a Schnee. He can't just forget what her family has done to him. "I know what my family has done can never be forgiven, but I will still do everything I can to change that, as a Huntress." Adam could clearly see the look in her eyes, the sadness changing into determination.

"Change like that can never happen, no matter how much you try." Adam said.

"Well one of my teammates used to a member of the White Fang, now she's one of my best friends. I guess that's a good start, right?" Adam said nothing.

Weiss's body turned to back to the docks, silence once again enveloped the two, their eyes returning to the students and civilians boarding off the ships. "You should go now," Weiss suddenly said, "Otherwise Nora isn't going to let you go." She turned her head with a small smile.

Adam was slightly taken back, "Don't worry. I'll tell them you ran into that friend you were looking for and you had to go." Adam's eyes fell to the floor for a second before walking past her. He then stopped and glanced behind him. "Good luck with your little 'quest', Weiss." He said before continuing on.

"Sun, why are we back at the docks again?" Blake asked.

"To check out the competition. Kinda what you and your team were trying to do when I came to Vale, remember?"

"Yes Sun, I remember. I also remember the events that followed suit as well." Blake said with a smirk.

"Oh, right. Well this time it'll be different. No White Fang, no Torchwick, no bad guys, just us and Ice Queen?" He questioned. Blake looked up ahead and indeed saw her teammate by the railing. She was about to call out to her friend till a man with blue hair and a very familiar scent and Aura walked past her. Blakes eyes widen and quickly turned around but saw no one. Her heart beating and her breathing was a bit fast. Her eyes frantically scanning the area.

Her body jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Whoa, hey, relax. It's just me." Sun reassured. Blake looked at him for a second before clamming herself down. "Sorry, I just…never mind. I'm fine now." She says, walking past him.

"Sure…" Sun wasn't sure about that though but wasn't going to press on about it. She'll tell him, on her own time.

From the roof of a building, Adam gazed down. His eyes on the person of a certain feline. "So, this is where you've been hiding Blake. This is where you ran to." His fists clenched tightly. Then his eyes caught her walking up to the Schnee, they looked to be talking in a friendly matter too.

The rest of the group seemed to have finished up with their greeting of the newly arriving students and joined in the conversation. Blake looked…happy. "Well one of my teammates used to a member of the White Fang, now she's one of my best friends. I guess that's a good start, right?" Weiss's words repeated in his head as he watched as Blake exchange a friendly conversation with the rest. He slowly relaxed his clenched fists. "...right," Adam softly said, then walked away.

Returning to the pair walking the little faunas girl back home. Black's eyes moved left and right. The whole area had a very questionable atmosphere. "You sure this is where you leave?" Ruby questioned, seeing a couple of thugs down a passing alley.

"Yea, it just down the street." She pointed.

While Eby did confirm that her home was around her, Ruby was still skeptical of it. "Hey, do you really think she lives here?" She whispered to Black.

"That's what she says." He quietly responded.

"Well, what if it ends being a really bad place? We can't just leave her in a place like this." Ruby retorted.

"You're not exactly her mother. The decision of whether this place is right for her falls to her parents." Black said back.

"Umm, Mr. Black, Ms. Ruby, I can still hear you." Eby says, looking back at them. Her wolf ears twitching.

Ruby scratched the back of her head with an awkward smile. "Sorry, didn't mean to talk behind your back."

"It's okay. This place isn't as bad as it looks. The people that live here are actually pretty nice." The two teens glanced at each other and mouthed 'nice' with some confusion. Before they could anything else Eby announced with a smile that they have arrived. "Oh, we're here."

"Really? Huh, so this is where…you live." The cheerful voice of Ruby's slowly died down, her eyes widen mixed with shock and sadness as they looked up. Black noticed the change in her expression and looked up as well. There was a name to the building in front of them. It read, 'White Moon Orphanage'. Did this place mean something?

"Eby! There you are." Said an older woman. Their eyes moved to the entrance of the building. A woman with long brown hair tied loosely at the side walked up to them. She wore a white shirt with a light pink short sweater, a long plain black skirt, and a pair of black flat dress shoes. "Eby you had me worried."

"I'm sorry Ms. Cassidy. I got lost with my drawings and kinda wandered off. But these nice people helped me back. They even invited me for some pizza." Eby explained.

The woman name Cassidy sigh and held her head, "This is the seventh time you've wandered off. What am I going to do with you?" Her then eyes caught site of the two teens the young girl mentioned. "I'm sorry for the trouble." She bowed.

Ruby waved her hands in front of her, "N-no, it wasn't any trouble. Eby's a good kid, we just wanted to take her home." She reassured.

The woman lifted her head back up, "Oh, then I thank you for bringing her back and inviting her for pizza." She said with a motherly smile. Her smile caused both teens to feel strange. "I-It was no problem."

"Eby, why don't you head inside." The faunas girl nodded her head, "Bye Ms. Ruby, bye Mr. Black," She waved.

"Bye Eby, take care." Ruby waved back. As the little girl walked inside, Ruby looked back to the older woman. "Um, Miss Cassidy."

"Yes,"

"Don't you think having an orphanage in a place like this a little dangerous?" Ruby finally questioned.

Cassidy blinked before smiling again, "I appreciate your concern, while this place does have a questionable vibe to it, the folks in this part of Vale are indeed friendly. In fact, we get most of our things because of them, and money from the nearby nightclub."

"Oh, that's nice." Ruby said.

Yes, is. Forgive me but I must go. I have to get dinner ready for the kids."

"Oh, no no no no, it's okay, we understand. We don't want to waste any more of your time." Ruby said.

"Again, thank you for bringing Eby back home." Ms. Cassidy bowed once more.

"Your welcome." As the woman walked back inside, the two teens turned around and headed back to Beacon. "Ruby," Black said.

"What's up?"

"That place…What is an Orphanage?" He asked.

Ruby's eyes slightly widen, "You…don't know what an orphanage is?" His silence only answered her question. "An orphanage…an orphanage is where children are takin when they don't have any parents, or sometimes where parents abandon their kids." That last part she said with sadness. It reminded her how Yang's mother just abandoned her with her dad. Yang didn't know, but she knew how obsessed she was into finding her mother.

Black, on the other hand, was actually quite shocked by this. To hear that human and faunas parents abandon their spawns to these orphanages, was just…it didn't make any sense. "…Why do they do it?"

"I…I don't know…" Ruby said with downcast eyes. "But I know this." A bright smile formed on her face. "If I ever have a kid, I'm never going to abandon him/her." Her smile caused a strange feeling to rise within him. His eyes then moved to the building where they left Eby. "Orphan."

Footsteps echoed between a row of empty warehouses. Adam's eyes moving left to right, before catching a glimpse of a White Fang carrying a crate into a warehouse. Walking up to the warehouse, and casually walked inside, looking around at the many dust crates in the building. Some of the members noticed him and were wonder who he was.

One of them stepped in front of him with his weapon in his hand. "Who are you and what're you doing here?"

Adam's eyes leveled to his, and from just one look the White Fang member immediately recognized him. "Adam, sir, forgive me. I didn't know it was you." He bowed.

Other White Fang members mumbled to each other, all wondering why he was here. "It's fine. Where's Roman Torchwick?"

"Roman? He's behind the crates over there, checking the mapping layout of the Mountain Glenn." The soldier pointed.

"Thanks," Adam says, walking off to the direction Roman was in. Upon reaching the crates he saw a large map of Remnant on the table, showing the locations of their operations that will be taking place. Placing his hand on the map he suddenly felt a cold blade on neck.

"Well I didn't know we were having a guest here today? A man's voice said. Walking out from behind was a man with orange hair and a white coat and a bowler hat. He assumed this guy was Roman. "So, might you be?"

"Adam Taurus." He felt the blade move away. A high heel tap was heard as the person behind him moved in front. Before he was the silent assassin. "Adam?"

"Didn't know you were here."

"Wait, you two know each other?" Roman asked.

"We met on one of my assignments." Neo falsely explained. She didn't like to lie to Roman but did want to drag Roman into Black's group. He already has his hands full dealing with Cinder. He doesn't need to know about her.

"How come you never told me this?" He crossed his arms.

Neo responded with a smirk, "You never asked."

Roman pouted before shrugging it off. "Fair enough. So, what brings a leader of the White Fang of in my neck of woods?"

"Black. Do you know where he is?"

"The kid? Mmm if I had to guess he should be with his team or his new friends. I don't know." Roman says, lighting up a cigar.

"Aren't you his boss?"

"His boss?" Roman chuckled at this, "No, I'm like his teacher, mentor, acting father. Teaching him the ways of being a professional criminal." Neo rolled her eyes.

Adam wasn't amused, "So when will he be back.?"

Roman leaned on the table and puffed out some smoke. "Don't know, for now, Cinder wants him at Beacon more than here now and there's no way of convincing her out of that. You could stay if you would like, after all, you're his ex-partner. That makes us 'friends' in a way." Adam's eyes moved from Roman to Neo who still held her smirk. Adam sighed in frustration. It seemed coming here was a waste of time. "You're welcomed to stay for the night, after all, bad guys like us have to stick to together."

Adam let a small smirk, "Yea," He said before walking off.

Roman tilted his head and watched the bull faunas walk away. "Nice talk. I like him. What do you think Neo?" Turning the tri-color haired girl. She gave a so-so gesture.

And done! There's you go, folks. Chapter 23. Again sorry about the late update, got held up with some changes I want to do for future chapters as well as some personal matters I had to attend to. I won't make any promises when the next update will come, but I will get it out before the end of August.

I'll catch you all next time, PEACE.