Disclaimer: I hereby declare that Roosterteeth studios RWBY production crew may freely use any ideas, characters, or events written in this story free of charge and without any threat of lawsuit for any production, though it would be preferable to inform me of the use of the idea if used.

Ch 42

"Ah what a nice day" said Byakko as he and Lan calmly walked through a forest, with the house on Byakko's back smashing through any branches that came in contact with it. The little ones were running around the forest and playing while keeping pace with the group.

"Drop!" shouted Byakko.

"Got it" said Trey who stuck his head out of the window and emptied a bag of chips above Byakko who easily caught all of them with skillful flicks of his tongue.

"So my eyes really change color?" said Lan who was looking into a mirror.

"Yep" said Byakko with his mouth full of chips. "They turned blue when you do the crystal thing and gray when you do the concussive sphere thing"

Byakko had discovered this during the last Grimm hunt the two had undergone. They had stopped in a underground village and had helped them fight off a nest of Grimm located nearby. It was when Lan was battling a large DeathStalker that Byakko had noticed this.

"Well that's cool" said Lan "I wonder what my semblance really is."

"You'll have plenty of time to figure it out while murdering creatures of darkness" said Byakko, who shouted Drop again and devoured chips falling from above. "Really too bad you can't use both at once anymore."

"Yeah" said Lan who materialized a small crystal in his hands, he then tried to materialize a force orb in his other hand but the crystal disappeared the moment the orb appeared. For some reason, after defeating that monster back at the Cove, he was no longer able to use both abilities simultaneously. "I'll figure it out eventually"

"Indeed you will" said Byakko "Just as your little friends have."

The little ones had developed their semblances quite well, Ignis had learned to better control the explosions he was able to generate, George could maintain his shapeshifting for a longer period of time, and Edel had begun to better learn the Dust Eagle's hereditary energy projection.

"At least I'm starting to get my custom weapons nailed down." Said Lan pulling out a 4 jet black rods.

"And I see a perfect opportunity to use them" said Byakko who stopped in his tracks. "Look" He pointed towards a distant treeline, and after squinting his eyes he spotted what his grandpa was pointing at.

"Black wings" said Lan who spotted the feathers sprouting out of a tree.

"Go and get it boy" said Byakko "It's either a bird or a Grimm. We can decide what to do with it once you've got it, get it in less than 3 minutes and I'll remove the fire sit-ups from your training regime tonight."

The moment he heard this, Lan bolted forwards towards the tree where he saw the feathers. He moved silently through the forest, leaping from tree to tree, to ground, and back to tree as he plotted a route that would draw the least attention, until finally he stood on a branch in a tall tree that overlooked the black wings that wings that were sticking out of the leaves.

After quickly catching his breath, Lan leapt from the tree and dove downwards towards the wings, pulling out his two of the rods. In a flash of light, a long crude crystal chain formed from the end of one stick to the end of the other.

"Hagaflagamurga!" shouted Lan insensibly as he crashed through the leaves and into the creature to whom the wings belonged to. It let out a yelp and a moment later, Lan had completely wrapped it with his crystal chains. The two then crashed into the ground where Lan got his first good look at his prey.

"What the?" said a little boy in a dazed voice.

"Oops!" said Lan who quickly undid his chains.

He quickly got off the boy who slowly sat up with his head cradled in his hands. The boy was around Lan's age and had a black hair in a bowl cut hairstyle that covered his eyes. He was wearing a black kimono on top of white inner garb, with both having holes in the back for his two large black wings.

"Sorry about that" said Lan who helped the boy back to his feet while brushing him off. "Thought you might be a Grimm or some delicious bird."

"I-it's alright" said the boy in weak voice as he stared down at his feet. "B-but what are you doing here?"

"Oh! Me and my grandpa were heading towards some place called the Spirit Temple and were heading to a place called Karasu Village along the way." Said Lan.

"Oh" said the boy looking up, two soft black eyes appearing through his hair "uh, do you have an invitation?"

"I think grandpa has one" said Lan who then turned around and yelled as loud as he could "GRAAAANNNPPPPAAAAAA!"

With his lungs having been trained to increase both its size and strength through conventional and unconventional means, the shout was far louder than any ordinary child could muster and nearly popped the young Faunus boy's eardrums.

"Yes?" said Byakko, who appeared in a split second as the boy collapsed to his knees covering his ears.

"Do you have an invitation to wherever it is we're going?" asked Lan.

"Don't need one" said Byakko, "I gots executive privileges."

"Oookay" said Lan, who turned his eyes to the sky, "If things get bad you are covering our escape."

"Agh." Said the boy, rising back to his feet. "That was soooo lou—" he stopped as he realized something. He then quickly began rummaging through a small pouch by his waist, when he didn't find what he was looking for he looked up again.

"My lunch!" he said "It's gone!"

"Found it" said Byakko who pointed over at the little guys who were tearing apart a leaf and devouring the rice balls and steamed buns inside.

The boy turned his gaze downwards and began to cry.

"Sorry! Sorry!" said Lan who rushed over and tried to cheer the boy up "I know! Why don't I fix you something to it, it's our lunchtime pretty soon after all."

"Well…" the boy looked at Lan and Byakko nervously, shuffling his feet and weakly flapping his wings. He was very reluctant to go along with two strangers, but a low rumble from his stomach quickly made up his mind. "Okay."

"Great! Nice to meet you, I'm Lan, what's your name?"

"T-Tenguro" said the boy.

"Okay Tenguro, follow us back to our house and I'll whip up some clam, bacon, and bamboo shoot chowder." Said Lan.

After heading back to where Byakko had left the house, the group went inside where Lan prepared the chowder in an elephant sized cauldron, while he did so Tenguro met the little guys and had a fun time playing with them until Ignis tried to eat his wings.

"So, you're a raven Faunus, that's rare" said Lan as he stirred the boiling cauldron.

"Well, a lot of my family are" said Tenguro, as George picked random insects out of Tenguro's wings. "It's a pretty big family, it controls the whole town as well as the surrounding valley and mountains."

"I see" said Byakko who entered the kitchen area carrying an enormous basket of bread. "That means you're the young master of the household then?"

"Oh no" said the boy "my father is the brother of the current family head."

"You're still in a pretty good position then" said Byakko.

"Yeah, I've always been treated well because of Dad's position, but since he's always away on village missions and because he married my mom without house approval people have always kept a distance from me." Said Tenguro, who then twitched and said "Oops, sorry I shouldn't be telling this kind of personal stuff to people that I just met."

"It's all good!" said Byakko who uncorked a barrel of beer "In fact it's better to get know a new friend."

"Where do you keep all the alcohol you drink" said Lan, shaking his head as he stirred in some final spices into the soup "Well, it's ready, so let's eat."

After eating the creamy soup and wiping their bowls, or in Byakko's case cauldron, clean with bread the group moved on. Tenguro's eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw Byakko just pick up the house and sling it on his shoulders.

Before long the group came up to a large Torii gate guarded by two men in priest robes wearing and carrying large spears.

"Halt!" said one of them. "Identify yourselves."

"Hey Kurogane, I'm back." Said Tenguro.

"Ah, young master, did you sneak out again?" said the man with a smile "You shouldn't do that you'll worry everyone."

"We both know that I won't" said Tenguro with a sad smile. An awkward silence passed between the two of them before the other guard cleared his throat and called out to Lan ad Byakko.

"Who are you two then?"

"Here to make a stop before heading somewhere else" said Byakko, who kept walking forwards without regards to their previous warning.

Both guards then thrust their spears into Byakko's face.

"We told you to halt" said Kurogane "and you aren't allowed here without an invitation from the head household."

Byakko blew a raspberry and then said "Just tell the head honcho Byakko Muteki is here, then there should be no problem." He began to walk forwards again, but was stopped by the guards again.

"Wait here while I go check with my superior."

"Ah, he won't know me, only the people at the top do" said Byakko.

"I'm going to have to ask you to turn around" said the other guard.

Byakko looked at both of them, then grinned.

"Oh, here we go" said Lan, who placed his face in his hand.

"Like I said, the people at the top will know me" said Byakko, who then vanished and reappeared behind the guards, grabbing both of them by the shoulder "Here I'll help you get to them!"

Before they could react, Byakko threw them up past the gate, a minute later a loud crash was heard in the distance.

"Okay then" said Byakko who walked forwards as Tenguro stared at him with his mouth agape, "They should know we're here now."

"…Huh?" said Tenguro who came back to his senses.

"Try not to think about it too much" said Lan "Grandpa kicks common sense in the nuts every single day."

The group then began to march forward again. Although scared at first Tenguro quickly opened up to Lan and the two began to bond over their love of books, especially the works of Kami Shikigami, a fantasy novelist that Tenguro revealed was his mother.

Before long the group arrived at a large oak tree in the middle of a misty clearing.

"Tree" said Byakko, "I myself would have preferred something a little more conspicuous"

Byakko then raised his hand and made a sweeping motion. The mist dispersed, and the tree disappeared, only to be a replaced with an enormous wooden gate. A moment later dozens of winged guards appeared and leveled their weapons at the group.

Tenguro squeaked in fright as Lan sighed and said "I knew it."

Two guards stepped forward, Lan recognized them as the two Byakko had thrown earlier.

"Come with us peacefully and you will not be harmed" said Kurogane.

"Hey, I thought I threw you two to the main house" said Byakko.

"We stopped our flight with our wings" said the other guard.

"Oh right." Said Byakko "Well I guess it's fighty time!"

"Okay that's enough." Said Lan stepping forwards "a good thing I listened in on you last night" he mumbled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a medallion and showing it to the guards "This should be enough right?"

The guards looked at it for a moment, then their eyes opened it disbelief. "A temple medallion!" said one of them in shock.

"Oh why did you do that boy" said Byakko "Now I don't get to fight them anymore.

"Exactly" said Lan who put it away. "Overheard you last night that you wanted to fight the guards here to see if they were up to snuff, but I'd rather not piss people off because you badly injured their friends and family."

Lan then turned to Kurogane "We can go in now right?"

"I, uh, guess so, but may I check that?"

"Sure" said Lan who chucked it to him.

The man caught it and after giving it a thorough look, his eyes widened and said "Grand Master level?!"

The other guards murmured in surprise.

"Why does this guy have one" said one person.

"Only four exist right?" said another.

"Can we go now" said Byakko, who snatched the medallion back "I'd hate to miss the feast that they're going to prepare"

"O-of course sir" said Kurogane, who bowed deeply along with the rest of the guards "Please forgive us for our—"

Before he could finish Byakko slapped him across the face.

"Stop being such an ass-kissing hardass" said Byakko "We all know this is my fault, it's fine to be pissed off about it."

"I, uh, okay" said Kurogane, who rubbed his cheek.

The guards then opened the gate and allowed the group through.

What spread out before them was a large village with Japanese and Chinese styled houses, with a large Japanese styled palace sitting at the very center. The houses looked kind of old styled at first, but on closer inspection had phone and TV lines running up the sides of the houses, and lights could be seen lining the streets.

"Y-you're from the temple?" said Tenguro, who finally found his voice again.

"I'm friends with the guy who runs it" said Byakko "Oh the fights they two of us would have back in the day, the maps would have to be re-drawn each time!"

The group then headed down into town, this time Lan and Tenguro conversed about some of the things Lan had seen in his travels.

"You really got to pilot an airship?" said Tenguro, his eyes wide in amazement.

"Yep" said Lan "Used its fishing protocols to catch a giant squid too, it was delicious."

"Wow, I wish I could do something like that"

"Well why not." Said Lan "I could probably take you to the Cove sometime if you want."

"Oh no" said Tenguro with a sad smile "That's not possible"

"Why not?"

"Our village has really strict rules" said Tenguro "You're only allowed to leave if you have been given a mission, register for a training pilgrimage, or become a disciple at the temple. And for all of those things, only the best of the best are chosen, usually at the yearly tournament, and I've never gotten far enough to even be considered."

"Hey, don't be so down" said Lan, "I'm sure that if you train up you can meet that criteria."

"Well, we'll see" said Tenguro, who didn't look confident at all.

By then the group had made it into town and began heading for the large palace at the center, buying snacks from street venders along the way.

"So, you said people keep distance from you" said Lan, who was eating some tang Hulu "don't your parents try to do something about that."

"Not really" said Tenguro, who was eating some takoyaki "Dad is always away on missions or chasing maids so I don't see him too often, and mom is away pretty often getting material for her books. It's gets pretty lonely."

During their conversation, Lan also discovered that Tenguro's family possessed an inherited semblance, the only other he knew of was the Schnee family's. Tenguro's family semblance was mantras, when activating their semblance the user could combine different hand signs with chants to create a variety of different effects which could be enhanced by applying Dust. However, among family members people were more suited for some kinds of mantras and not others. Tenguro had found that the only mantras he excelled in were mantras of illusion.

"Dad leads the village's number 1 special operations team, the Night Ravens and mom has plenty of fans of her books in the village so I'm treated pretty well. But I still wish that I could see them more often." Said Tenguro "I'd really like to join Dad sometime, but my skills aren't good enough for his troupe."

"Hmmmm" said Lan, rubbing his chin "I can probably help with that."

Before long they reached the main palace, and standing outside the main gate was a procession of men and women.

A black-winged Faunus with jet black hair in a topknot and wearing an important looking garb came flying down from the sky and landed in the center of them.

"Welcome Master Muteki" said the man "It has been far too long"

"Well, well, well. If it isn't little Shintenguro, so you're the family head now." Said Byakko. "Great to see the little bedwetter I knew grew up."

This comment gave rise to some snickers from the surrounding crowd, but they were quickly silenced by Shintenguro's piercing glare.

"Ah I see you have my nephew with you" said Shintenguro, who turned has gaze back to Byakko. "I hope he hasn't been an inconvenience."

"Oh not at all" said Byakko, "In fact my grandson inconvenienced him by tackling him out of a tree."

"On his orders" said Lan, pointing at Byakko.

"Well anyway, please come in" said Shintenguro "The servants are preparing a large feas—"

"Hey dudes can I get some more of these." Said Trey who appeared out a window holding an empty takoyaki container.

Everyone in the area stared at him.

"Did I interrupt something" he said "Sorry, I'll head back in." He then pulled his head back into the window.

"Uh who is—" started Shintenguro

"You can think of him as my grandson's gofer" said Byakko.

"Ah" said Shintenguro, in understanding "Well please come in to the dining hall, there is so much to talk about."

"Is little Daitenguro here?" asked Byakko.

"No, I'm afraid my brother is out on a mission right now." Said Shintenguro, "so you'll have make do with my nephew."

"Got room for these guys?" said Lan, pointing to his little buddies.

"Of course, we'll have the servants whip something up for them as well."

Byakko then set the house down in the courtyard and let Trey get out. They then followed Shintenguro to a large wooden room where they sat on cushions and had their meals brought to them on mounted tables, it consisted of a Bento meal sets with colorful assortments of food like sashimi and teriyaki meats, with Byakko of course receiving an extra-large helping. It was here that Lan learned that the Tenguro household, that controlled the village, was a vassal to the Spirit Temple, which was run by Meng Zhang, one of Byakko's oldest friends. In fact the Tenguro household was founded by a disciple of the temple. The town and temple were apparently also part of a larger group called the Order Of Dawn and Twilight, but it was only mentioned briefly in the small talk, and when he asked his grandfather:

"You'll find out once you got more hair on your manparts!" was his reply.

He also found out that the village's main financial source was funding for the many covert ops operations that its special forces ran, as well as any dealings with the Spirit temple such as providing supplies.

"Well, anyway, I'm going to be leaving my grandson in your care for a little while I go make arrangements with Meng to train him." Said Byakko, his mouth filled with sashimi.

"Oh! To be trained by the temple master himself, the boy has a prosperous future spread out for him. We would be more than happy to look after him." Said Shintenguro.

"Oh will you pull that pole out of your but already" said Byakko, who let out a loud belch "It makes you look like one of those slimy weasels that are always trying to get something out of someone."

"Oh, uh, apologies" said Shintenguro,

"And while I'm here this guy is going to train with me!" said Lan who grabbed Tenguro in a headlock.

"Gmph?!" grunted Tenguro, who nearly choked on the tempura in his mouth.

"Ah I see you've already become friends with my nephew. Very well then, would you like for me to arrange your living quarters near his?"

"That would be great" said Lan "He can come over for videogames sometimes."

"Lan, I don't know if—" started Tenguro, but his words were cut short as Lan tightened his headlock and choked him quiet.

"I will train you." Said Lan "You have no say in the matter."

Unluckily for Tenguro, Lan had gained some of his grandfather's sadistic nature when it came to training.

After the meal, Byakko came over to Lan.

"Alright boy, I'll be back in a month or two. You be good in the meantime and don't shirk on your training."

"Got it" said Lan. "Not the first time you just up and disappeared, at least you gave me some warning this time."

"And make sure Trey doesn't get in any trouble, the guy's way too gullible."

"Okay."

"Right, family goodbye hug!"

Byakko then opened his arms wide and Lan leapt into it.

"Bear hug!" said both of them as they squeezed the other. They then let go Lan's aura dropped below 15%. Byakko thn ran into the courtyard, leapt into the sky, and disappeared from sight.

"He moves fast" said Tenguro.

"You get used to it." Said Lan "Now let's discuss training! What weapon do you use?"

"Uh, well traditionally our family uses something light and versatile that's custom made for each person. But I don't have anything of my own right now."

"Okay, well, just use these for now." Lan pulled out two wooden swords from his bag and handed them to Tenguro. He then dragged Tenguro to the nearby courtyard. "Now I gotta see what your current level is, let's spar!"

"Uh okay" said Tenguro, taking a stance.

Poor Tenguro never stood a chance, he had received some formal training as was customary as a child of the main household but nothing near the level Lan had undergone. At the start of the fight Lan dashed forward, and alarmed at his speed Tenguro swung his swords at him, but Lan slid under the swings, placed his palms on the ground and kicked the swords out of Tenguro's hands before sending him flying with a kick to then chin. Tenguro spun through the air and landed with a thump on the flowerbeds nearby.

"Wow, you suck" said Lan as he returned to his feet and looked down at Tenguro sprawled out on the ground.

"Around here I'm about average" said Tenguro, who shakily got up, while rubbing his jaw.

"Well, we got a lot of work to do if I'm going to get you ready for the next tournament." Said Lan.

"But that's in half a year!" said Tenguro.

"Right, which means we must get started immediately." Said Lan "Now come on, we need to hunt some Beowolves."

"…eh?" said Tenguro, who had never fought a Grimm before.

"And after that I gotta find some chains so I can chain you to them."

"…EHH!?" shouted Tenguro, who took a step back in fear.

"Come on bud, it's time for you to undergo some real training." Said Lan, grabbing Tenguro's wrist and dragging him to the nearby forest as the boy struggled to break free from Lan's vice-like grip "The same stuff I went through since I was 5!"

"Hey can I join" said Trey, who popped up out of nowhere and struck a pose that was comical given his rotund stature "I have a need for greater strength."

"Sure thing! Tenguro will just have to catch more Beowolves!"

"Wah, no no no, help! Somebody!" cried Tenguro.

"Little guys, prevent him from escaping when I'm not paying attention" said Lan with a horrifyingly innocent smile."

Each of them saluted Lan then began circling Tenguro.

And thus started the hardest week of Tenguro's life… so far.

"Come on buddy almost back home" said Lan.

"Ugh" groaned Tenguro "Everything, hurts."

"Yeah they tend to do that after surviving being chained to a live Beowolf for an hour" said Lan.

"You demon" said Tenguro.

"If I'm a demon then Grandpa's the king of them." Said Lan

Lan was currently piggybacking Tenguro through the streets after their most recent training session. Tenguro was unable to move anymore. Lan however, was bursting with energy, enough so that he was also pulling the 300 pound mass of Trey placed on a cart behind them, with added weight of the little guys who were napping on his soft stomach. Trey hadn't received training nearly as hard as Tenguro's but due to being unaccustomed to high intensity work, had passed out during 'basic' physical conditioning which consisted of 500 push ups, 500 sit ups, 500 squats, 500 rounds of total body stretching, and a 50 km run (which Lan had changed to 30km of running and 20 km of flying for Tenguro). Trey had passed out after the pushups, Tenguro also passed out a few times but was forced to continue by Lan, who would suplex Tenguro whenever he stopped or protested outside of breaks. The crazy training began after that, but since Lan was feeling merciful he released tenguro after the 1 hour beowolf chain. Lan of course did his own training right alongside them which was many times more difficult than what they did.

"Come on this is nothing compared to what grandpa makes me do" said Lan, "I never put a time limit on you guys, I gave you breaks, I never tied any iron weights on you guys, I never—"

"Stop" whimpered Tenguro, with tears in his eyes. "I don't want to hear it."

"Can't breathe" said Trey panting heavily "Need, Cola."

"How about a nice sports drink instead" said Lan, chucking a bottle at him.

"That'll do" said Trey who caught it and drank it down.

"You want anything to eat before we get back?" asked Lan.

"…Ramen" whispered Tenguro.

"Ramen it is!" said Lan who wheeled the procession towards the nearest stand.

Once there he ordered 3 large scallop ramens for each of them, assorted bones for Ignis, bananas for George, and some fish and rice for Edel. But right before they began to eat he felt a tap on his back, he turned around and found himself face to face with a group of kids from the Karasu house.

"Hey Lan, mind if we join you?" asked a boy with brown hair and wings that looked to be the leader of the group.

"Sure, pull up a chair" said Lan, who started eating.

They ordered the same thing as Lan and then the leader of the group turned to talk to him.

"So back from training right?" he said.

"Yep" said Lan, who was quickly slurping up his noodles.

"I see you and Tenguro going out every day for training since last week. But I'm guessing you've also been doing it for years." he said.

"Uh-huh" said Lan.

"You know we're also training hard every day" said the boy "Maybe we could train together, and get to know each other better?"

"Okay" said Lan, "You can join us tomorrow if you want."

"Great" said the boy "We'll see you then."

The meal then continued with members of the new groups attempting to strike up conversations with Lan, which he gave quick concise answers too, and giving him compliments. As soon as he noticed that Tenguro, Trey, and the little guys had finished their meals, Lan paid the shopkeeper for the meal. Lan then walked out of the shop with Trey and Tenguro who had rested enough to be able to walk. He knew the faces that those boys and girls had; they were the same faces he had seen on the sleazy underground businessmen he had dealt with in the past. The face of someone focused on their own personal gain.

"Hey Tenguro, Trey, we'll be tackling that deathstalker lair we found few days back tomorrow" said Lan, who was putting together an especially nasty training regime for those boys and girls. In response to this Tenguro and Trey groaned, and then collapsed onto the ground. Lan then picked both of them up and carried them back towards the castle. After tomorrow, those boys and girls would never bother him again.

"Take it easy on me bro, I'm helping fix up the castle these days." Said Trey, who was also working with the castle servants.

"Mkay, I'll carry you to your rooms for now, you got the rest of the day to yourselves"

Later the next night

"Nooo" whimpered Tenguro in his sleep "no more 'snore' flying"

He was dreaming of the gauntlet/marathon that Lan had made him fly through in a canyon earlier that day.

"Get em!" yelled someone.

Tenguro was ripped from his futon and thrown in the hallway.

"Huh?" said Tenguro whose head was still foggy from sleep. Before he could get up a blanket was thrown on top of him and he was forced to thee ground. He then felt multiple blows raining down on him through the blanket and the heard the shouts and jeers of other children.

"Think you're so smart don't you" came a boy's voice. "Made yourself look real pitiful so in front of Lan so he'd pick you off the street."

"I bet you gave him some kind of sob story, something real pitiful so that he'd never leave a wimp like you behind." Came a girl's voice

"Mom, Dad!" cried Tenguro who curled up into a ball.

"You know they aren't here" came the boy's voice "They left you behind cause they realized what a waste of space you are."

"I hear everyone talking about it" said the girl "You've got the worst results out of everyone in the main house, in fact they say you'll be kicked out and made a commoner."

"No!" shouted Tenguro, who struggled to get the blanket off.

"Oh come on just think about it your mom left you, your dad never sees you and the rest of the family just tries to ignore you, and you know what, once Lan realizes what a lost cause you are he'll abandon you as well." Said a boy.

"No we're friends, he wouldn't do that!" said Tenguro who finally ripped off the blanket, and looked up to the shadowy and indistinct faces of the kids standing above him.

"Friends with a runt like you?" said one of the boys "you aren't even at half his level, and you can only really use illusions, how's that actually supposed to hurt a Grimm you're fighting? You should make it easier for both of you and just hide in corner like the runt that you are."

"No! I'm not a runt!" said Tenguro who had started crying.

"Looks like you need another lesson" said one of the boys who raised his fist.

Suddenly there was a loud crash at the other end of the hallway, everyone turned to look and standing there barely discernable in the dark was a humanoid monstrosity with a large spike for one arm, a large malformed leg, a grotesquely malformed head, and multiple glowing red eyes. A disgusting smell also began to fill the hallway, that made their stomachs turn.

"Nyawah!" it made a kind of moaning sound and then began lumbering towards the kids.

"Kyaaaaaaa!" screamed one of the girls "Monster!"

"Run for your lives" said another.

The group that had surrounded Tenguro quickly dispersed and ran for the other side of the hallway. Tenguro was petrified from shock and simply watched as the creature lumbered towards him. It stopped right in front of him and as the boy prepared for the worst.

"Hey dude you okay?"

A flashlight was then switched on and the boy saw the monster for what it really was. Trey was standing there with a toilet plunger stuck on one arm, the little guys clinging to his head and playing with small warning lights, and his leg wrapped with many layers of toilet paper and soaked in an unmentionable substance that was giving off the smell.

"Lan's out at the blacksmith right now making some stuff, so he wanted me to check on you." Said Trey "And sorry about the look, leeet's just say there was a little trouble fixing one of the older restrooms, especially since a bunch of drunk guys tried to see if they could fill a toilet to the top."

Tenguro sat staring at him for a few moments, and then burst into a fit of laughter.

"That's good" said Trey, "Laughter is one of the best medicine, now who were those bozos bothering you?"

"Oh that … I don't know" said Tenguro, who stood up and wiped a tear from his eye.

"Well, I guess we can find out later, when Lan gets back I'll tell him about this and—"

"No no no" said Tenguro waving his hands "Don't tell him, it's…fine."

"…You sure bud?" said Trey

"Yeah" said Trey "I'm fine, just…fine."

Trey looked at him for a minute then shrugged and said "If you say so, now if you excuse me I need to go get a mop to clean up this floor and then grab a shower."

"Alright see ya" said Tenguro as Trey walked back the direction he came in. He then waited until the sound of Trey's footsteps disappeared and he had once again been submerged in darkness. "Just fine" he said again as he walked back into his room, locking the door behind him. "Just fine."

I trudge ever onwards, all the while asking.Is this truly worth it? But then I look upwards and see all my other paths lead to a dark future, so I continue on into the unknown.