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 44

1 month later.

A pot of water was boiling over a fire in a clearing in a bamboo thicket. Lan was sitting in front of it, his eyes closed while sitting in seiza position. He sniffed the air, smiled, and put out the flame below the pot with a waive of his hand. At that moment, several shuriken came flying out of the bamboo. With a flick of his wrist, Lan picked up a Japanese tea scoop and deftly deflected the projectiles. A shape flitted around the bamboo thicket as Lan used the scoop to scoop some dried tea into two tea cups sitting in front of him. Again, shuriken came out of the trees towards him. Lan reached for his ladle, but then paused and smiled. He then turned around just at the moment Tenguro materialized in the air behind him, drawing his katana. Lan's right hand shot up and grabbed Tenguro's wrists. Tenguro grunted as he tried to force his blade downward, closer to Lan who picked up his ladle and dipped it into the pot of boiling water. Lan then forced Tenguro's blade to the side, stabbing it into the earth, while he removed the ladle and poured the boiling water into one of the cups. Tenguro then flew backwards into the bamboo thicket and hid himself.

Lan filled the last cup with boiling water, and then picked up a bamboo whisk. Suddenly a set of iron claws appeared in front of Lan's face. This surprised Lan, forcing the boy to make a semi-awkward leap back from the seiza position, but after living with Byakko for nearly 7 years, the boy was used to being surprised. Lan threw the bamboo whisk at the pin holding the boiling pot of water above the fire, knocking it loose and causing it to spill all over Tenguro's back.

"AGHHH!" screamed Tenguro, who leapt forward while arching his back away from the scalding water. At the same time, Lan performed a backflip, kicking Tenguro in the chin and sending him flying backwards…which resulted in him falling bottom first onto the hot coals of the former fire.

"Ahhh! AHHH AHHHH!" screamed Tenguro, who leapt upwards and began running around the clearing while clutching his burning rear. This proved to be a mistake as the claws he was wearing dug into the soft flesh of his gluteus maximus.

"Oooooooh, sorry" said Lan, with a pained expression. Byakko had trained the boy to respond to all possibly dangerous surprises with decisive force, usually by popping out when Lan least expected and proceeding to beat the boy over the head with some of the local wildlife. This had saved the boy many times in the past but had led to many equally awkward moments.

"But hey! You finally got me to start fighting seriously. That's some real progress."

"Thanks" said Tenguro, who had removed his claws and was massaging his bottom. "You were right, it's a lot faster switching from making hand signs to attacking when I use claws instead of a sword."

"And those shuriken make a real nice ranged option." Said Lan.

The boy then walked back to the fire, picked up the bamboo wick and the tea, and gave it a nice stir.

"A toast!" said Lan handing the cup over to Tenguro "To progress made."

Tenguro smiled, took the cup, and then took a sip. He then smacked his lips and frowned.

"This tea is terrible" he said. Lan took the tea from his hands, sipped it, and also frowned.

"Hmmm, looks like a screwed up somewhere" said Lan. "…In fact, it tastes like….!"

His eyes widened and whipped his head around to stare at the pot. With a happy bark, Ignis poked his head out of the pot, while placing his paws around the rim.

"Oh right." Said Lan, as Tenguro's eyes widened "You're resistant to heat."

Lan stared at the wolf pup for a moment as Tenguro ran over to a tree while covering his mouth. Lan then shrugged and took another sip of the tea as Tenguro vomited. "I've had worse" said Lan as Ignis jumped out of the pot and shook himself off.

Tenguro turned to Lan, while holding his stomach "What kind of stuff have you been ea—"

"Silence!" said Lan, who threw a wet Ignis into Tenguro's face "Listen."

Tenguro pulled Ignis off his face, and then strained his ears while ignoring the smell of wet wolf.

He didn't hear anything at first, but then slowly heard a crunching sound in the distance. This eventually transitioned to rumble of wheels, with to odd profanity here and there.

Lan motioned for Tenguro to follow and made a small bird-like chirp which prompted the little ones to follow behind. The small group then took to the trees and leapt from branch to branch towards the sound of the commotion. Eventually they came to a clearing where they found canvas cargo trucks parked in the clearing, surrounded by many jeeps.

"Are we really taking a break?" said a man in one of the jeeps "I mean, this is the shadow forest. A lot of people disappear in these woods."

"Oh cram it" said another more important looking man. "The boss said he wants this stuff over to Mistral in less than a week. Only way that's happening is through shard pass, and do you want to drive through that Grimm infested place with only 4 hours sleep?"

"Alright, Alright" said the other man "…But over a distance as long as this, it would make sense if 1 or 2 packs…went missing wouldn't it?"

"That depends" said the more important looking man "you got the lien for the 'special discount'?"

"Nevermind" said the other man, waving his hand. "I'm not paying that much for moip."

"Moip!" whispered Tenguro "That's slang for moipu powder, that's an illegal drug!"

"uh-huh." Said Lan nodding, "That means these guys are bad guys."

The boy then pulled out a pen and paper and scribbled a quick note that he handed over to Edel.

"Take this to town girl"

She chirped, grabbed the letter, and then flew off.

"Alright, now we just need to make sure that they stay here."

Lan looked around the enclave for moment, and smiled.

"Follow me" said Lan. The two boys then dropped down and made there way to the edge of the forest, concealing themselves in bushes. "Alright, can you hide us from everyone's view?"

"That would be difficult" said Tenguro "The area of effect for my mantra of illusion has a 5-meter diameter at best."

"I can work with that" said Lan "just put one up whatever direction I point."

Tenguro nodded, and after confirming hand signals, the boys darted out of cover towards the camp of cars.

Tenguro immediately casted a mantra of illusion on the cars they first approached, and after they passed the first line of cars, they began making there way to the canvassed trucks in the center with Lan pointing out any patrols that came near them and Tenguro hiding them with his mantra.

Eventually, they arrived at one of the trucks.

"Okay, what now?" whispered Tenguro. Lan turned to him, smiled, and pulled out a lighter. The boys then went from truck to truck, starting small fires in each of them, and it wasn't long before cries of alarm sprang through the camp as it filled with smoke.

"Alright" said Lan as he tossed his last lighter into a truck. "Let's go."

The boys turned around to leave, but suddenly found themselves face to face with two men armed with heavy machine guns. Alarmed, the boys and the two remaining little ones took up fighting stances. But when neither of the two men did anything for a full 10 seconds, the boys looked at each other, confused. But then, one of them finally spoke

"Hay!... Hay! Whut er you do doin ere?" he said, with heavily slurred speech "Wes gotta find…whuh were we lookin for again?"

"I unno" said the other man "Uh…wawa? To put out fir?"

The two men stared at each other for a moment, then broke out in laughter while holding each other up.

Lan looked at them for a moment, confused, but then realized what was going on.

"Oh right" he said, pounding his right fist into his left palm. He then reached into his pockets and pulled out 4 gas masks, one of which he put on. He then handed another to Tenguro while he put the last 2 on Ignis and George. "Be careful not to breath in the drug smoke."

The four of them walked past the two stoned guards and quickly exited the encirclement of cars.

"Well, that was easy" said Lan.

"Yup" said Tenguro.

Neither of them noticing a camera mounted on the front of one of the jeeps.

A few days later, in a place far away.

"Interesting" thought a man in black as he watched a recording on his screen. "So the forest is occupied after all."

He reached over to his right and grabbed a round object on the table, and brought it up to his face.

"Your men were of some use to me after all" he said to a severed head.

He then put it down and hit the rewind button until Lan appeared on the screen. He pulled out his scroll, took a picture, and after a few moments of processing the word 'Match' appeared on his screen.

"I knew I'd seen him before" he murmured. He then tapped a few commands into his scroll and returned it to his pocket. He had made a note of the boy, just in case their paths crossed in the future. He then got up and walked back into the bloodstained hallway behind him.

"Hmmm, yes I like it!" said Lan.

"It's kind of tight around my ankles" said Tenguro.

The two were in the Garden of Tenguro's home. Tenguro was trying on some new stealth combat garb that his father had given him as a congratulations for bringing in the members from the drug ring a few days ago. Long story short, he now looked like a ninja with some modern flair.

"Now you just need the mask!" said Lan.

"I'll have to win the tournament first" chuckled Tenguro.

"Still a dreamer I see" came a voice from behind them.

The two of them turned to the doorway and found a girl around their age with light purple hair and wings, wearing a kunoichi outfit looking down out them.

"Oh! Hello Fuji" said Tengruo, giving a short bow "What are you doing here."

"Came to check on you" said Fuji, stepping off the porch. "Father said you had made some progress lately so I came to check on you."

"Who are you" said Lan, standing up.

"Oh this is my cousin Fuji" said Tenguro "She's one of the best disciples in our family too."

"Ohhh!" said Lan, nodding his head "Well, nice to meet you."

"And you must be Lan" she said, looking at him from head to toe "You seem to be just as spacy as the rumors say."

"Cool" said Lan as she walked past him. "There are rumors about me."

"It's good to see you finally taking your position seriously" she said to Tenguro.

"Haha, well I have a goal now" said Tenguro, while nervously rubbing his head.

"Good, now show me" said Fuji.

"…Huh?" said Tenguro.

With a flash of her hands, Fuji pulled out a fan and thrust it past the right side of Tenguro's face.

"Show me how you've improved." She said with a quiet intensity.

"…Oh." Said Tenguro, who swallowed.

"Go Tenguro" said Lan, who had settled on top of a large rock, and had somehow pulled out a flag with Tenguro's name on it as well as a large number of snacks.

Seeing as he now had no choice, Tenguro swallowed and nodded his head. He had known for a while now that he would have been confronted with some kind of test or obstacle after making it this far, but for it to be one of the best disciples in the family and one who had been disappointed in him for years due to him not living up to his father, he just couldn't catch a break!

"Take your stances!" shouted Lan who had yet to notice that he was becoming more and more like his grandfather. The two fighters moved to opposite sides of the garden, pulled out their respective weapons, and took their fighting stances. "Begin!"

Fuji made the first move. With a few quick hand gestures and a quick chant, a small flame appeared in front of her. She then hopped backwards and upwards with a wave of her wings right after making a quick snap with her arm to fan the small flame. The gust of wind from her fan caused an enormous blaze to shoot forward from the flame towards Tenguro. The boy leapt into the air, unfurling his wings to rise above the flame. Seeing this, Fuji flew forwards and swung her folded fans at Tenguro's neck. Seeing this, Tenguro brought up his arm and blocked the blow with his steel claws.

"You have gotten better cousin" said Fuji, while the two were locked together in the air "But you're still lacking!"

Before Tenguro could react, Fuji kicked him in the stomach, sending him reeling. She then quickly formed another mantra, which created an ice spike that she sent flying at Tenguro with her fan. Still reeling from the kick, Tenguro clumsily put up his hands to block the attack. The spike exploded on contact with his arms and smashed him into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Oooh, that's gotta hurt" said Trey, who had appeared and joined Lan atop the rock.

"Yeah, buuuut, considering what I've put him through, I'm sure he has some tricks to spare."

Almost right on cue, and enormous conflagration, 10 times larger than the one Fuji had sent out earlier, erupted from the dust cloud and raced upwards at Fuji. Alarmed, she sent a gust of air with her fan, but the flame raced on unabated. She braced her arms in front of the flame, waiting for it to hit…nothing. She opened her eyes and saw herself consumed by fire, but was completely unharmed by it.

"Illusion." She said angrily as a vein pulsed on her head. "Is hiding all you can do." She placed her hands together to form a mantra.

'Wham'

Two shuriken struck both her wings from below. Make a surprised "Kya!" Fuji lost her balance and plummeted from the sky. The flames disappeared and Tenguro appeared flying up towards her, katana drawn.

But Fuji wasn't one of the top disciples for nothing. While still regaining her balance, she threw her folded fan at Tenguro. It struck him in the forehead, causing him to lose balance in midair and slow down. Using that extra time, Fuji pulled another fan she had hidden in her other sleeve out and sent a wind gust down at Tenguro who was caught by it and once again knocked to the ground. Finally, having completely regained her balance Fuji looked down in Tenguro's direction and found that he was gone. She looked all around the garden but couldn't find him until, he suddenly materialized and threw three shuriken at her. Deflecting them with her fan, she turned to face him but found him gone again.

"Alright, that's enough." Fuji pulled out a small blue dust chip and slid it into the base of her fan. She then soared back into the air while forming mantras, and when she reached her zenith a small swirling orb of cold air appeared in front of her. With a powerful sweep of her arm, a freezing gale of ice and sleet slammed into the garden below, chilling the air and freezing the ground. A moment later, Tenguro reappeared, his arms covered in ice due to him shielding his face. Without missing a beat, Fuji formed another mantra which caused her fans to be covered in a purple light. She then unfolded the glowing fans, and threw them at Tenguro like discs. Seeing this, Tenguro tried to fly out of the way, but found his wings to frosted to unfold. He then tried to dart out of the way, but slipped on the ice and landed on his side. He looked up just in time to see the fans appear in front of his face.

'Boom'

A large cloud of dust erupted from the collision site, and when the dust finally settled Tenguro was out cold in a small crater with one of the fans lying next to him and the other in the hands of Lan, who had darted forwards right before it collided and snatched it out of the air.

"Why did you interfere?" asked Fuji, who flew down from the sky.

"The first fan was enough to deplete his Aura" said Lan. "If I had let this other one hit, he would have been seriously hurt."

Fuji glared at Lan for a moment, then shrugged and turned towards Tenguro.

"He really has improved greatly since you've arrived." She said, a small smile dancing on her lips. "He was always pushed away by other members of the household, and that disconnection made it hard for him to find anything to fight for. You know, we used to play together when we were very young, but as he fell further and further behind the rest of the children, my retainers made it very difficult for us to meet anymore."

"Sounds like you care about your cousin here" said Lan with a warm smile.

"We are all members of the venerable Karasu household." Said Fuji "It is only natural that we attempt to make each other stronger so that we may strengthen the clan."

"Glad to see you aren't the stuck-up-princess type" said Lan. "I see way too many of those in manga. Glad I didn't meet a real-life stereotype."

"…I'm not following" said Fuji.

"Well, anyway, I guess I should take these two to the infirmary for now" said Lan, who pointed to Tenguro and Trey who was shivering and covered with ice.

"Wait just a moment." Said Fuji, who grabbed Lan's arm. "I was rather proud of that skill I just used, yet you stopped it rather easily."

"The razor fan edge is definitely dangerous to grab, but as long as you grab it by the hilt, you just need to apply enough force to counterbalance it." Said Lan, who shrugged nonchalantly.

"…I see " said Fuji "But you were only able to do so since you were watching from the side and were able to enter at an opportune moment."

She walked over to the edge of the field, then took a combat stance, with both fans unfurled.

"Care to see how things turn out when you have my complete attention?"

"Sure" said Lan who cracked his knuckles and stretched a bit. "I'd love to."

Tenguro groaned as he returned to consciousness with a familiar pain in his head.

"How many times have I been knocked out?" he thought, as he opened his eyes. "This can't be good for my brain."

He was lying in a futon on tatamit mat floors again. However this time, the one at his side was:

"Greetings cousin" said Fuji, who was sitting by his side peeling an apple.

"Better" said Tenguro, sitting up.

"You truly have improved" said Fuji, handing Tenguro the apple "You actually might have a shot at becoming a Night Raven at this rate."

"Thanks" said Tenguro, who took a bite "that…means a lot coming from you."

The two sat in silence for a moment, until they heard a scream outside in the hallway.

"No, no little puppy, you can't pee here!" came a woman's terrified voice. "Eeeeeeek! Little monkey, stop swinging from the ceiling. AHHHHH! Little birdy, stop ripping of decorations!"

"Oh that's right" said Tenguro, "Where's Lan."

"He returned home after sparring with me" said Fuji.

"Wait, you guys fought?" said Tenguro, who scooted forwards "Who won?"

Fuji turned her gaze to the corner of the room, while a slight blush colored her face.

"…He did" she said with a slight hint of embarrassment "But it could hardly be called a fight."

Apparently as soon as the fight had begun, Lan had dashed forward and grabbed Fuji's wrists before she could form a mantra. She had tried to kick him, but had stomped down on her knee before she could do so, which also broke her balance. He then sidestepped, threw her onto her stomach, and proceeded to put her arms and wings into a painful lock. She was unable to break out of it, so Lan was able to quickly force her to submit by applying pressure to her joints.

"…Wow" said Tenguro, after Fuji had finished explaining. "He's better than I thought."

"Well, none of us have seen actual combat situations before, so there's that" said Fuji. "He definitely has that on us."

She then stared at the floor a slight blush on her face, "and he is rather handsome" she muttered. She then stiffened as she realized what she just said.

"Wha—" started Tenguro. Before he could finish an object whizzed past his head and embedded itself in the wall behind him. It was one of Fuji's fans.

"You will tell no one of this" she said, her gaze icy and calm "Understood."

"Yes ma'am!" said Tenguro, who for the first time in his life felt the loin-chilling horror that emanates from an angry woman.

1 week later while the boys were eating lunch, Byakko arrived in his usual manner which in this case was him smashing through the ceiling of the dining area and landing on the table they were eating on, which caused all the food on the table to fly into the air and into his mouth. It was also important to note that the old man was naked, causing many of the female servants to scream and/or faint. Luckily for the eyes of those that stayed conscious, the old man was so hairy that any inappropriate area was almost completely obscured by thick white hair.

He informed Lan that the preparations had been made and that his training in the temple was ready to begin. The two then split with Lan heading to his lodgings to pack up his things, and Byakko going to get fitted for new clothes and to pick up his house. It happened so quickly that Tenguro didn't even have time to think about it until he was in bed that night. It was then that he realized that he was suddenly very very afraid. Lan had come into his life a bit more than a month ago and had completely changed his life. He had grown stronger, become more respected, and even reconnected with those that were once important to him. He was afraid that if Lan left, he would go back to that life of isolation that he had lived before.

He tossed and turned that night, unable to think as he kept trying to think of ways to make Lan stay. Eventually he got up and walked over to his bookshelf. He then pulled out a book of poems that his mother had wrote and began reading, just as he had whenever he had felt alone in the past. As he calmed down and read the words written by an older, more experienced soul he began to feel a sense of peace.

He'd known in the beginning that Lan wouldn't be staying forever, but at the same time he knew that they would definitely see each other again in the future. As he turned each page of his mother's poetry book, he remembered something that Lan had given him or helped him achieve. He kept reading and re-reading until the sun finally began to peak above the horizon and Lan's time of departure drew near. A single tear slid down the side of his face as he finished reading the last poem in the book "A long night of goodbyes". He then got up and went to the gate to say goodbye to his first true friend, with hopes that they would be able to meet again and that when they did so he would be someone who could walk side by side with his friend towards the yet to be discovered future.