All warmth and life seemed to drain from the room in one fell swoop, as if some entity had breathed in and stolen the air and heat from all four of its occupants. Bartholomew stood silently at Willow's side as the pair lingered just outside of the doorframe, Kali's ears were flat against her skull, and Adam kept one hand on the handle of the refrigerator door as he glared daggers at the heiress. Willow returned his gaze with an unblinking one of her own. To everyone's surprise, she was the first to animate once again, and she swiftly made her way directly toward the kitchenette, the open side of her long dress billowing softly behind herself.

Adam watched with a mixture of curiosity and anger as the girl approached, only for her to pause in the doorway. Bartholomew and Kali kept a safe distance from the faunus and his enemy, though they remained close enough to intervene if and when it was warranted. Adam quickly looked over to the pair, before slowly and gently closing the refrigerator door and rising to his full height. He stood a few inches taller than Willow, and she looked up to maintain eye contact as he moved to within a foot of her. Neither party blinked, and both barely seemed to breathe as they stared each other down with differing intensities. Finally, Willow opened her mouth and spoke softly.

"I… would like to hear your thoughts, before I say anything, Adam. I feel as though I have no right to speak, or frame this conversation, given what my family has done to you," Willow said carefully as her eyes traced the branded snowflake pattern upon Adam's face. Her tone shifted to one of restrained anger throughout the final few words, and Adam felt the unexpected change served to stoke the fire within himself. He exhaled harshly through his nose as he fought back every urge to lash out, and moved to lean against the wall dividing the kitchenette from the rest of the dorm.

"What your family has done isn't something that just affects me. In fact, I'm one of the lucky ones- I got out of the mines alive, and I only lost an eye, in my time there. Unless you count losing my parents, which, to be honest, I do, even though I never met them. I doubt that's a feeling you can even begin to understand," Adam seethed through clenched teeth.

"If it was up to me, I would force my father to trade places with you, and experience everything you, and each other faunus who has been subjected to unsafe work conditions has gone through, without hesitation. Your life should be about more than your horns, and mine should be about more than my family name," Willow spat.

"…that's cold," Kali interjected from her position leaning against the wall behind Willow.

"Please, not now, Kali," Willow begged as she raised a hand behind herself while keeping her eyes on Adam. "I mean every one of those words, and when I inherit the company, things will be different. I understand if you think it an empty promise, or too little, too late, and I won't attempt to dissuade you from being angry with me… but I do want you to hear my words. I want them to mean something to you, in the future. Not as an 'I told you so', or as though I'm doing you a favor, but as a promise. I keep my promises, Adam Taurus. If I fail to keep this one… then you can do with me whatever you please."

Adam swallowed hard and looked down at the fair, unblemished skin of Willow's hand as it was offered to him. He was vaguely aware of Bartholomew joining Kali on the wall behind the heiress, but nothing else really mattered to him beyond the gesture being held immediately in front of him. Time seemed almost to slow as he studied every fold in her skin, the white-tipped, elegant nails that added a flow and grace to her fingers, and the way she held her arm at a very businesslike angle.

"…it would be… so, so easy to hurt you, right now," Adam pointed out in a voice almost like a whisper. "And I want to. I really, really want to. Just… take your fingers, and snap them backward. Grip your neck and squeeze, until those two manage to pry me off of you. I don't know if I could kill you quickly enough to prevent them from ruining it, but I don't think I'd even care, as long as you suffered. Any sort of permanent damage would go at least a little bit of the way toward making the Schnee family pay."

Willow's expression turned into a slight frown, though she kept her hand firmly in place. "And… of course, I would fight you off as best as I could, but I also wouldn't blame you. Not really. I have no reason to hate you, Adam, but I do recognize your right to hate me. Maybe… I even encourage it. Knowing that you're unsatisfied gives me all the more reason to make change, and push forward. Whatever you decide to do, tonight and beyond, I hope you succeed. Truly."

A faint clicking noise echoed through the otherwise silent room as Bartholomew used a finger to push his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose. Adam's lip twitched as he raised his hand, only to find his fingers shaking uncontrollably against his will. With one final, sudden movement, Adam seized Willow's hand in a desperate grasp, hard enough to make the girl wince in pain. She hissed through her teeth as they shook, and then Adam pulled away and let his hand fall to his side.

"Leave," the faunus commanded as he turned and walked back toward the refrigerator.

"I… I'm sorry?" Willow questioned as she took a small step backward. Kali put a hand upon her shoulder and offered a sympathetic look as she shook her head.

"Leave," Adam repeated with a bit more bite. "We're not… I'm not going to scream, or hurt you, or throw things around, but I'm also not ready to just act like we're friends, either. I don't know what the future holds, but I do know that if you hang around too long, I won't be able to hold myself back. So go, for your own good. This is as much progress as we're going to make, for one day."

Suddenly, Willow found that the air in the dorm had gotten even colder, and she retreated back around the dividing wall.

"Thank you, Adam. I'll… I hope we can talk again soon, when circumstances are better. Have Kali give you my number, and let me know if you're willing to speak again," she said as she made her way to the door. With a quick, apologetic look to Kali and Bartholomew, Willow slipped back into the hallway and closed the door behind herself. Nearly immediately, Bartholomew took a step toward Adam, and reached a hand out for his teammate's shoulder.

"…that was very bold of you, Adam, and I think I speak for Kali as well when I say that I'm very impressed with the way that y-"

Bartholomew's statement was interrupted with two other, far louder sounds that seemed to occur simultaneously. A feral yell resounded throughout the small kitchenette as Adam's fist careened through the wall, leaving an ugly, sizeable hole in the plaster. The bull faunus kept his fist wedged inside of the divider for a moment, before pulling his arm back to reveal a still shaking hand with freshly bloodied knuckles as he turned to look at Bartholomew. Adam's face was twisted into a mask of rage, and the other teen took a few cautionary steps backward at the sight.

"Don't… don't even start, Barty," Adam warned as he began a slow approach. "I don't need you to be proud, and I don't want to talk about it. Just leave me alone, and let me deal with this in my own way."

"No," Kali interrupted as she stepped forward, in front of Bartholomew. "Adam, we just talked about this. The fact that you can hold back, even a little, is progress, and I'm not letting you go about this on your own. Not because I don't trust you, and not because I think I know better, but because faunus rights are my concern, too. At least let me in, and I'll keep the others in the loop as they need to know more. Okay?"

Adam grumbled in frustration as Kali took his hand in both of hers and began to inspect his wounds. Paint chips and splinters of wood clung to the skin around the cuts on his knuckles, and the surface of his hand was still a vivid shade of red.

"…fine," Adam agreed. "But that Schnee, and these Winchesters… they're all sitting with me in hot water, and all it'll take is one more splash to set me off. Especially if it's from Robin."

"So far as I can tell, Robin is getting as much water as he can all over every surface and person in and outside of that particular pool," Bartholomew mused as he folded his arms across his chest. "Let me talk to Yatsu, and see if anything can be done internally on their team. You two focus on Willow and Jay- from an outsider's perspective, I can already see progress being made there."

Adam nodded slowly as his adrenaline began to subside in favor of shooting pain within his hand. "Honestly, Barty, I'm surprised that you haven't gone off on me for causing so many disruptions and missed classes. Other teams are already talking about us, you know, and it's only the end of the first week of classes."

Bartholomew shrugged noncommittally, and shook his head. "Academics and team synergy are important, yes, but there's no point in pretending we're a team if I force you all to move in lock step while one of us is in legitimate crisis. There will be plenty of time to catch up later, once you feel more able to focus and attend classes. It's really as simple as that."

"And the… you know, the wall?" Kali questioned as she eyed the rather large hole.

"Let it serve as a reminder not to take things too far. We'll report it sometime next week, and I'm sure Professor Ozpin will understand," Bartholomew reassured.

"Still… sorry," Adam replied with more than a little guilt. "I'll try to keep it under control a little better."

"And we'll help you do that," Kali said as she nodded her head toward the door. "C'mon. Let's go and get you cleaned up."


Raven silently ascended the alternating sets of stairs, lost in her thoughts as she climbed higher and higher toward the roof of the building. The girl paused with her hand on the railing as an unfamiliar sound began to echo within the vertical chamber, and she narrowed her eyes as she tried to make out the source. Suddenly, a sound that was out of place and much higher in pitch than the others rang out amongst the otherwise subdued pattern, and Raven realized that she was hearing a rather badly-played guitar. The girl shook her head and began her ascent once again, knowing exactly who and what she would find upon the rooftop.

The night air was cool and breezy, though the sky was unusually dark. There was a heady, humid quality to the air, and ominous clouds loomed overhead, threatening rain and letting the rooftop drown in heavy shadows. Raven hesitated for a moment as she stepped out onto the darkened surface of the roof and looked across the rectangular platform. Clear on the other side of the space was a figure clad in a black uniform, strumming away at a guitar as they sat upon a raised unit with industrial fans embedded in the opposite side. Their dark hair hung in messy strands, though Raven couldn't make out the person's face from her position behind them.

"…Qrow?" she tried as she approached, only for the figure to stop their musical efforts. Suddenly, the person turned to look over their shoulder.

"Nope!" Summer replied cheerfully from her position atop the fan. She patted at the metal surface beside herself while almost dropping the guitar in the process, and scrambled to secure the instrument as Raven let out a colossal sigh.

"Do I even want to know where you found a guitar, or why you're playing it?" Raven questioned as she slowly walked around the box and sat beside Summer.

"It's Tai's. He has a guitar, because of course he does. I mean, look at him," Summer accused before raking her fingers along the strings once again.

"I usually try not to," Raven deadpanned as she crossed her legs and looked out over the edge of the rooftop. Lights within windows far down on the streets below illuminated the city of Vale, though the streets and alleys were shadowed by the darkened sky. "What are you doing out here? You're in my thinking spot."

"I just wanted to get away for a little while," Summer confessed as she shifted her frantic, haphazard strumming to a gentler, more focused plucking of strings. "There's so much going on, and we finally get to have a little break, now. I just need some 'me time' every so often, you know? I was actually just about to head back inside, but then I saw you coming."

"You saw me?" Raven repeated. Realization struck her almost immediately, and she scowled in response. "Your semblance. Right."

"Uh-huh," Summer confirmed with a guilty grin. "Sorry."

Raven paused, and shivered slightly as the breeze tossed her plait of hair up and around her shoulder. "Why… would you use your semblance, if you're just sitting around and playing guitar? What could you possibly think would happen that you need to be aware of ahead of time?"

"That's the thing- nothing," Summer replied immediately as she paused her strumming. "See, I worry, a lot, but I try to keep it to myself. So sometimes, it's helpful to just know for certain that for at least the next five minutes or so… everything's gonna be okay. It gives me time to breathe, and think, and just remember that not every moment's a catastrophe. It's nice, you know? Knowing that you haven't screwed up everything so badly that you can't afford to just take a few minutes and be calm."

Raven sat silently as she contemplated the notion. After a while, Summer began to gently pluck at the guitar once again, and the notes formed a slow, soothing, melancholy melody.

"…you really think that little of yourself, don't you? I know the feeling, a lot better than I let on," Raven admitted as she folded her hands into her lap. Without warning, the music stopped once again, and Raven looked to the side to find Summer looking at her with a confused expression.

"Uh… no, not in any serious way? I mean, when I say I'm the worst leader ever, or I feel like I'm screwing things up all the time, it's mostly just hyperbole and my way of deflecting things with humor. You do feel that way about yourself?" Summer asked with a worried look.

Raven blanched as she held Summer's gaze, and then slipped forward off of the fan box to avoid her leader's eyes.

"Forget it. I just thought that y-"

"No, I'm not forgetting something like that," Summer insisted as she gently set the guitar down behind herself and moved to follow Raven. "Sure, I have doubts, and I do need time alone every now and then, which isn't great for a leader, but our team is doing okay so far. Tai's said some things about being worried for you, but I didn't think it was r-"

"Whatever Tai told you, he's wrong," Raven insisted as she whirled on Summer. The smaller girl took a step back and raised her hands defensively as Raven's eyes blazed. "Drop it, Summer. I misinterpreted what you meant, and that's it. And I swear to the gods, if your eyes start to glow right now, I will slap you so hard you'll see stars instead of visions."

Summer slowly let her hands drop, and heaved a sigh as she looked down at the surface of the rooftop. "I wouldn't do that to you, knowing what I know… but I'm also not going to back off, or run away, or leave this one to somebody else. I disappear sometimes because I know the rest of you guys and Team OKRA are better at handling Adam, as well as some other issues. I think that's part of being a good leader- knowing who to send in, and when to send them. That being said, this one's me, and I haven't been wrong yet, so… please don't leave? Hear me out?"

Raven folded her arms across her chest and sucked in a deep breath through her nose as she stared unblinkingly at Summer. The smaller girl nodded softly, and began to speak again.

"Raven… you've been here for all of us, since day one. Now, it's time to let me be here for you. I know you're a good person, and you're wicked smart. Impartial, pragmatic, and really, really beautiful," Summer began, only to earn an eye roll from her teammate. "But nobody's invincible, and the cracks in your armor are starting to show. At least tell me why you came up here tonight. Were you looking for Qrow?"

Raven grumbled to herself, before throwing her hands up in a full-body shrug and walking toward the railing. Summer followed along, and kept her own hands clasped behind herself as she walked.

"…I was trying to call home. Someone back home, I mean. I tried earlier today, after lunch, and no one answered. I thought that maybe I would get better signal from up here, and I wanted to try again. That's all. That's it. I just thought you were Qrow, without your cape and all. Where is your cape?" Raven asked as she looked backward at Summer.

"…I let Tai borrow it in exchange for his guitar. He wanted to wear it and pretend to be a superhero to annoy Qrow," Summer explained matter-of-factly.

Raven let out a harsh, immediate snort as her expression pulled into a slight smile against her will. She shook her head at the mental image of Taiyang jumping off of a bed and holding Summer's cape spread out to the sides while yelling as Qrow was trying to study, and it took all of her willpower to fight back an outburst of laughter. Instead, she settled for clenching the railing of the rooftop as tightly as she could, and wringing her hands around the bar.

"Of course he did. You're both so…" Raven paused as she struggled to choose a word. None of the complicated, accusatory descriptors seemed fitting or appropriate to her, and so, she simply said nothing until Summer jumped in.

"…childish? Annoying? Happy?" Summer offered.

"…happy," Raven agreed. "You're really not that annoying, and as far as childish goes… sometimes, I wish could join in on the fun."

"Why can't you?" Summer asked, only to receive a gentle breeze and nothing else as her reply. She let the question linger in the air, until finally leaning forward slightly to enter Raven's peripheral vision. "Raven… do you hate yourself?"

Raven took some more time to simply breathe, as she watched the streets below. She could barely make out vague silhouettes of two people making their way around the fountain on the pathways of the courtyard.

"…a little. Sometimes, I just can't help but think that I'm an awful person, and I don't deserve any kind o-"

Raven's heart skipped a beat as she felt a death grip around her forearm. Upon looking down, she found Summer's fingers clenched tightly around her limb, and the smaller girl's eyes blazing a furious, otherworldly silver. Trails of aura looped and swirled skyward as they left her pupils in heavy streams, and her expression was twisted into one of agony.

"Don't… leave her…" Summer insisted as she spoke through clenched teeth. Her voice was rough and sounded painful, as though the words were raking against the inside of her throat as they fought to escape her mouth. "Do not leave her, Raven!"

"I… what? Leave who!?" Raven asked as she tried to pull her arm from Summer's grasp. Panic set in as she found that the girl's grip was too strong, and a numb sensation shot upward through her arm. Suddenly, Raven's nerves shredded as Summer let out a painful yelp and stumbled backward, her forehead sweaty, breathing labored, and chest heaving as she stumbled backward and fell onto her backside upon the rooftop.

"My head!" Summer whined as she gripped at her hairline. Her eyes were tightly shut, and she let out a cry of pain. Raven rushed forward and kneeled, the uneven surface of the rooftop digging into her skin through her tights as she lowered herself to Summer's level. She ignored the pain entirely as she grabbed Summer's shoulders and gave the girl a light shake.

"Summer! What the hell just happened!? Are you okay? Who were you talking about?" Raven insisted as she gently rattled her leader once again. Summer made a noise akin to a wounded animal and batted Raven's hands away before swallowing hard and beginning to scoot backward along the concrete.

"Slow down! I can't… Raven, what did I say? What did I just say to you?" Summer asked, her breathing wild and erratic.

"'Don't leave her'. You said it twice, and you sounded angry," Raven explained as she slowly returned to a standing position. "What did you see? Who did you see? Why would you engage your semblance wh-"

"Does it look like I triggered that willingly!?" Summer yelled with enough pain in her voice that Raven was taken aback. "I don't even know if it was my semblance! Sometimes, I see… I get… I see visions, unlike the ones I get when I do it myself. A lot of the time, it happens when I'm asleep. I get weird, prophetic dreams, and they always come true! Sometimes, it happens like it just did, and I'm not asking for it, and it hurts, Raven!" Summer paused as she greedily gulped air, and finally managed to slow her breathing before fixing Raven with a serious look. "The girl with long, beautiful, golden hair and lilac eyes. Do you know her?"

"The… girl with golden hair?" Raven repeated incredulously. "What, is she a student here?"

"It looks like it, yes," Summer explained as she wiped at the sweat on her brow with a shaking hand. "I saw you, and I saw her, and she was here in some of the flashes, but Beacon was different somehow, and she was… angry. Very, very angry, but I don't know… just please, trust me!" Summer begged.

Raven scoffed, and made an attempt to approach her fallen leader once again. She offered her hand and Summer gripped it, her own slick with sweat, before allowing herself to be pulled up to stand again.

"Fine, whatever, but I'm not worried about 'her' right now, and the idea of not leaving someone in need seems easy enough to me. Are you okay? You look awful," Raven commented as she pulled her hand back and rested it upon her side.

"I will be. I'm just… this kind of thing always gives me a headache," Summer replied as she began to dust off her clothing. "Please keep this between us, for now? There are bigger things going on at the moment, and Kali, or Qrow, or especially Tai would freak out if they saw me like this."

"We all have our secrets, and we all have our reasons for keeping them," Raven pointed out. "I won't say anything, just like you're not going to say anything about what I think of myself to Qrow, or Tai."

Summer pulled a face and groaned, before offering her hand. Raven took it once again, and the two of them shook firmly to seal the deal.

"Fine. But eventually, we're both going to tell them everything ourselves, once things calm down,
Summer insisted. "Otherwise, it's just not fair."

"Deal," Raven said flatly. "Though I do want to know… these dreams, or flashes that you see against your will… how far into the future do they tend to be, exactly? Should I be on the lookout for this blonde now?"

Summer shook her head, and offered a small cough. "I… once had a vision like that a full year before it came true. I knew Taiyang long, long before school started, but I didn't want to say anything and freak him out. So… I don't know what the upper limit is. I'm not about to trust anybody else with that information, because it's honestly… freaky."

"It is freaky," Raven agreed as the girls dropped their handshake. "Either way, I'll keep it in mind… even if I don't want to believe it. You ready to head back downstairs?"

"Actually… I think I'm going to stay up here, a little longer," Summer insisted with a sheepish grin. "Especially after that."

"Understandable," Raven offered as she began to make her way back to the stairwell door. "Just… take it easy, Summer. I guess if you want to talk about things again later, we could go somewhere private. We should probably move our girls' outing to Sunday, since it's supposed to pour tonight and all day tomorrow."

"You know, a bad person would have gotten upset or just left, instead of rushing over and checking on me," Summer pointed out. Raven paused with her back to the other girl, and one hand on the doorknob. "Your first instinct was to make sure I was okay, even though our conversation wasn't going well. That says something about you."

Raven didn't bother to reply as she turned the doorknob and disappeared back into the stairwell of Beacon Academy.


Qrow kept his black umbrella at a diagonal against his shoulder as he made his way down the sidewalk and deeper into the slums at the east end of Vale. His sneakers sloshed and made harsh, almost cracking sounds as he stepped through shallow puddles, and the staccato beat of rain against the nylon of his umbrella almost leant a soundtrack to his solo journey as he weaved in and out of crowds. In his opposite hand was a small plastic bag full of spoils from his brief visit to the various shops and market stalls. The neon lights in shop windows and streetlamps added a faint, glowing sheen to the plastic material and the metal studs on Qrow's newly-acquired black leather wristband. The boy sighed after excusing himself as he maneuvered through yet another group of strangers, and the central spire of Beacon Academy came into view in the distance.

"Care to test your luck in a game of chance against the devil himself?"

Qrow stopped walking and turned to the source of the question, only to find a large, metallic cart painted in dark blue colors waiting at the entrance to an alleyway. A massive black umbrella covered the width of the small setup, and various bits and baubles were stacked around the edges and shelves protruding from the makeshift market stall. The entire garish display was topped off with a painting of an eclipsed sun on the front of the cart that had a smirking face plastered upon the center of it.

Behind the cart stood a man who appeared to be only a few years older than Qrow, though he looked incredibly out of place compared to the rest of the residents of Vale's east side. The man's hair was jet black and slicked back with some sort of gel or oil, and he had a thin mustache and goatee. His eyes were a deep, calculating green, and his expression seemed locked into what was almost a mirror of the sun upon the front of his cart. His outfit consisted of a white, long-sleeved dress shirt, a black, patterned suit vest with a golden chain, and matching black slacks. He leaned forward with his elbow upon the top of the cart and extended a hand with fingers enclosed by several gold and silver rings as Qrow approached.

"That's one hell of a pitch," Qrow mused as he folded his umbrella closed and accepted the handshake. The man's grip was incredibly strong, and Qrow found himself fighting for dominance as he returned the tight grasp with one of his own. "So, you're the devil, are you?"

"It's what a few jilted women and members of law enforcement have told me, and I've never known either party to tell lies," the smirking vendor replied in a smooth voice as he loosened his grip and folded his arms atop the surface of his cart. "Johnathon Soleil, though you can just call me John. Or Sol. Or whatever else you want, I suppose. I'm a rather hard man to offend."

"But a quick one to assume," Qrow countered as he angled the tip of his umbrella to rest against the cobblestone sidewalk. "What makes you think I'm a betting man?"

"Everything," Johnathon replied, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Look at you, in your Breaking Gourds t-shirt, ripped jeans, and bracelet. And yet, you carry yourself like a fighter- your posture's a little too good for a slum rat, you've got a scary level of awareness and focus in your eyes, and that weapon you've got is professionally made. I know a thing or two about weaponry… and about people. You're the type that resists the norm and pushes back against authority every chance you get, so the thrill of contests of luck is probably right up your alley."

Qrow shifted slightly as the man analyzed him, and the sheath containing the sword that Professor Calavera had lent him only a day before bounced softly against his thigh. Something about the way that the man seemed to look through him caused Qrow to set down his bag and umbrella against the side of the cart and approach as Johnathon leaned back to stand up straight.

"Alright. What did you have in mind?"


Author's Note:

Just a quick note- I've changed the update schedule again, because reasons. This story will be updating sometime on Sundays, and usually closer to night than morning. Whatever else gets uploaded will be random and getting posted as soon as it's ready, since I've been finding that the 'something else on Thursdays' schedule is relatively pointless. I've been consistently doing more than one other upload each week, so why hold something back until Thursday just to make sure something does go up on Thursday, if it's ready before then?

One other aside- What You Stole will be returning sometime in December or January, and I'll be posting a definite date both in an author's note here and in my profile, when the time comes. I'll be completely honest- I hate Volume 6 of RWBY with a burning passion, and I feel like the show has taken a massive nosedive in quality overall. I don't really care much about 7 at this point, and a part of me wants to just wait until it's done before binging the entire thing and hoping for the best. That being said, I do want What You Stole to return before the finale if at all possible, and I have no faith in people not to just drop spoilers constantly, so I'll likely end up watching it anyway in small chunks.

What fun.

-RD