Coco and Velvet walked down the hallway, both carrying brown paper bags with handles made of twisted paper twine. Velvet giggled as she walked backward to keep eye contact as she continued to chat with Coco. Coco smiled and looked at Velvet with her head lowered while looking at the other woman from the top of her sunglasses. She was still carrying her designer handbag in her free hand, while Velvet corrected herself so that she was now walking forward, next to Coco. They stepped up the short flight of stairs before she opened the door for Coco, and the pair entered into Beacon's library together, before walking past the other students who had come to study or to just to relax. The duo both approached two tables that had been pushed together and were occupied by the rest of Team CFVY and Team HAVC.

It was nearly dusk outside, the last slivers of sunlight just gleaming over the horizon before the sun disappeared for the night. It gave the library a nice orange glow, despite the lights being turned on. As HAVC and CFVY were reading, Zed was looked out the window. His head rested on his palm with his elbow on top of an open textbook. The tables were set up so that both teams were sitting each at their own table, and they had positioned themselves so that they could each face the opposite team, with Haiiden sitting at the head of team HAVC's table. Coco and Velvet, still giggling together, stopped right next to their table; this was strange coming from Coco, as she always seemed serious, or at least somewhat stoic. They set the paper bags down on to their team's table, and she proceeded to pull out two cardboard cup holders, each held four cups of coffee which was enough for each team, plus an oversized thermos for refills.

Velvet set a cup down for each team member with a warm smile, and as each took a cup, returned the gesture with a smile of their own.

"She looks better with a smile on her face, instead of a constant frown," Haiiden thought to himself as he looked up at her, and then back to his own textbook. Even though he didn't ask for one, Haiiden still received a cup from Velvet, and he looked up at her to flash a smile.

"Thank you, V," Haiiden said, removing his glove from his right hand and feeling the warm cup against his skin. It sent a shock through his body that woke him up a little.

"Maybe I did need it after all," Haiiden thought as she responded with a smile and turned back to Coco, who continued where she left off from her conversation.

"But come on, though; wouldn't that be fun?" Velvet asked Coco, while she lightly tapped her on the shoulder in a playful manner, but blushed when she realized what she had done. Then, she pulled back and kept her arms close in an attempt to make herself appear small. As a further sign of her nervousness, Velvet pulled her bunny ears down over her eyes to try and hide her face. Coco's smile grew broader at her shy teammate's attempt at gregariousness, followed by her signature shyness, then patted her hand on Velvet's shoulder. They both sat down, with Coco sitting next to Haiiden at the head of her team's table.

"That would be fun, I admit. We need to find some time for that," Coco replied, while everyone read from their own textbooks for their respective classes or just random books from around the library, for fun. It felt nice to just sit down and relax together; however, Cecilia was reading an older book from the library, not a textbook and a very ancient text, from the look of it.

"What are you reading up on, Cecilia?" Coco asked her but Cecilia didn't look up from her whatever she was reading.

"I am studying up on the Jaune Arc's family history, dating back to the Great War. They were amazing!" Cecilia replied with a smile of admiration which seemed to disappear and her facial expression changed to that of disappointment.

"Too bad the apple fell far from the tree," she said a little louder, and Haiiden turned when he heard the remark. He knew that she was talking about Jaune, but she was right.

"I don't get how a kid like that got in here," Fox added as he looked up from his book and leaned forward on his elbows, so as to not talk too loudly in the library. Nobody understood how he had gotten into Beacon; he clearly didn't know how to fight, or at least he didn't know how to fight well. The thought made Haiiden question Ozpin's reasons for accepting him, and he wondered if it could be that he was invited to Beacon because of his name. A name is an important thing, Haiiden knew, and hopefully, Jaune could come around in time to live up to it. The thought of names, however, made Haiiden think back to his own, and the thought of it made him feel discouraged.

"I wouldn't worry too much about Jaune," Zed jumped into the conversation when his attention reverted back to the group. Apparently, the sun had gone down and he had to turn his focus to something else.

"My biggest problem is why they would let thugs like Cardin into this Academy," His eyes narrowed as he thought to himself and cracked his knuckles angrily as he shook his head.

"Well, he can fight, and that's something, I guess," Cecilia responded in an attempt to try to explain without saying, that if she had to choose, she would easily choose Cardin over Jaune, especially since students were here to hone their skills and to fight for humanity, which would be hard to do if you didn't know how to fight in the first place.

"Punks like Cardin only come here for fame," Zed fumed as if he was scolding a child while he looked at Cecilia out of the corner of his eye. He felt slightly insulted that Cecilia would try to defend Cardin and decided that he would not give her the respect of actually turning his head to face her. Unlike with Haiiden, Cecilia actually respected Zed's opinion and as she noticed his displeasure, she nodded and looked away.

"We came here for humanity; we give up our own identities for its sake. Cardin is just some pushover; someone who hunts the weak and distrusts those who are different," he continued, but then looked over to Velvet and thought back to all the times Cardin had bullied her, which only made him more agitated. Yatsuhashi and Vaughn looked up at Zed and both of them wondered where this side of him came from.

"What's worse is that Team CRDL won't learn. The only way for them to learn a lesson is for their victims to stand up and fight back. We, those who are capable, can't do anything about it," Zed shook his head again, then he took his anger out on the book in front of him by slamming it closed and hid his face in his hands. After a few moments of silence, his face reappeared, this time with his signature grin upon his face, but it was not as wide as it usually was; he then turned back to Velvet again.

"Can I get your answers for Ossea's assignment?" he asked her.

Velvet sighed in response and was annoyed at his laziness. "No, Zed. You have to do your own homework."

"Please?" Zed pleaded, putting his hands together he tilted his head, cutely. He tried to make his eyes seem bigger, as if he were a puppy, begging.

"Zed, stop," Velvet demanded in her toughest voice and tried to look away, but was unable to as Zed then lowered the corners of his mouth to make a big, fake frown. As he leaned forward on the table, his fox ears popped out of his hair.

"Okay, fine," Velvet said as she finally gave in to Zed's puppy dog looks, and lent him a few pieces of the homework that she had been able to finish. Zed wiggled his ears at her and chuckled as he took the papers from her. Looking at the answers and copying them; he then decided to look at his own work after the answers were input, opening his textbook to find the relevant information after handing the papers back to Velvet.

"Thanks, V," Zed said with a wink.

0-RWBY-0

The next day, team HAVC and CFVY were sitting in Professor Ossea's class and were listening to a lecture on the previous Faunus/Human conflicts, as well as the ongoing one with the White Fang. It was almost impossible to understand Ossea at times, as the Professor only spoke in a muffled monotone voice, without any expression or emotion behind it. It almost made it seem as if it was reading its lectures from a script, which made them long and unbearable.

It turned out that Ossea was brought into the academy to teach World Cultures, but the lectures seemed more like in-depth history lessons, mostly material that had been partially covered by Doctor Oobleck. It was also here to teach what it liked to call "diplomacy" since the first conflicts with the Faunus had convinced some that the Huntsmen's role should be expanded to peacekeeping missions.

"The 'Faunus Rights Revolution' started as a way to get rights through force," Ossea said as it paced back in forth in front of the class with its hands behind its back. It was almost difficult to tell who or what the professor was looking at with the all the white hair that hung over its face. Some students were sitting and writing down notes, and some were asleep due to Ossea's boring lectures, but not Zed, who kept his gaze upon Ossea. "After the turning point of the war, they did receive some of their rights, but discrimination continued, and many were still being forced to live in Menagerie."

"Seven years after the conflict ended, the organization known as the 'White Fang' was born, and their goal was originally and ostensibly to secure their rights in a more peaceful manner, through protests," Ossea continued its lecture, and was still pacing in front of the class, its hair swaying to the right every time it turned around. Zed looked back to Haiiden at the mention of the White Fang and they both frowned at each other, then turned to Velvet who was sitting next to Zed along with her own team. She just shrugged at the mention and gave off a warm smile which made Zed's frown disappear, and was then replaced with a smile of his own.

"However, they turned violent five years ago, when their senior most leadership changed, and the official statement was that the constant discrimination and lack of positive action in response to their previously peaceful protests was the cause for this change in their tactics." The class continued to observe in silence, they all already knew this from the Doctor Oobleck, but maybe the reason why this history was being emphasized so much was that the conflict was still ongoing, as well as the pervasive ignorance of those who wanted to keep the Faunus down.

"What's the big idea? They're just animals," Cardin stated loudly and laughed with his teammates as along with a few other students in the class. The rest of the class either sat in silence or muttered to themselves in disagreement. Ossea looked up at Cardin, which didn't faze him in the slightest since no one could tell the Professor's expression anyway.

"It is because of that attitude that many have died needlessly," Ossea retorted, to which Cardin only responded with a shrug and waved it off dismissively.

"As Hunters and Huntresses, you all will hold a position of respect," Ossea stated while scanning the classroom and looking at each individual student.

"You fight for humanity, and by that, not just humans but for the Faunus as well. You take no sides in any matter, so in a way, you give up all sense of individuality and any opinion for the good of the future." Its gaze then returned to Cardin, hoping to have made a change in his previous opinion, but instead, Cardin just looked back with a wide grin.

"If you can't do that, then you should just leave. This is not the life for you," Ossea finished and made sure that the statement was directed at Cardin. The comment made Cardin's grin disappear and Ossea continued to stare him down, which made him shift uncomfortably in his seat, as the unwanted attention made him feel uneasy. The classroom was then disrupted by a beeping from Ossea's Scroll.

"Excuse me." It moved to see what the disturbance was about, and after a few moments of scanning through the message, it looked up at team HAVC, but specifically Haiiden.

"Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch would like your help with a matter, Haiiden."

Team HAVC looked up in surprise and then back at each other, they assumed it meant all of them so they all stood up, but Ossea stopped them.

"Not all of team HAVC, just Haiiden." Zed and Vaughn looked to each other with confusion, but Cecilia had an annoyed and aggressive expression on her face.

"Why just him?" she crossed her arms as she asked, and looked down at Ossea. Vaughn put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her, but she only pulled away.

"We are part of the team, so why ask for just him?" She asked again but this time raised her voice.

"I do not know Miss Sceryei, it would probably be best to ask him when he returns," Ossea responded, and its lack of people skills made it answer without tact or sugarcoating. She gritted her teeth and sat back down, looking back up to Haiiden with eyes that seemed to burn with rage. He knew what that meant: it meant another night of useless bickering, but he couldn't help it now and proceeded to walk out of the class.

0-RWBY-0

Haiiden entered the locker room of the school where students kept their extra equipment and armor. He saw Glynda and most of Team JNPR standing at the end of the room with worried expressions on their faces, but strangely, Jaune was not with them. He continued to hold a look of professionalism as he approached the group, and stood straight at attention.

"Team HAVC leader, Haiiden reporting." It seemed to come out of nowhere in Haiiden's mind, and he thought that perhaps Cecilia's and Vaughn's military mannerisms had rubbed off on him a little. Glynda quirked a brow at him.

"Where's Jaune?" Haiiden asked.

"Seems as though he's had a bit of a joyride in one of the lockers," Goodwitch replied and shook her head, almost embarrassed at the thought as she adjusted her glasses with her index finger. Haiiden chuckled to himself and looked at JNPR at the hopes that this was some kind of joke, but their faces said otherwise.

"Huh. Wow, someone actually used one of those things?" Haiiden asked, and Glynda looked at him, unamused by his attempt at humor, while Pyrrha glared with a stern expression, as if to silently ask him to take things seriously. Glynda handed her Scroll to Haiiden, upon receiving it he realized that she was showing him a camera recording from the corner of the locker room and it showed that Cardin had stuffed Jaune into the locker and had launched it.

"How did no one notice this?" he asked Glynda and his eyes widened in surprise as this had happened on Glynda's watch, then slowly handed the Scroll back to her.

"I've already dealt with Cardin about launching the locker, but we didn't realize that he had forced Jaune inside until after we noticed he was missing." She looked down to input a few things into her Scroll again and after a few moments, Haiiden's personal Scroll pinged as it received data.

"I just sent you the coordinates of where the locker was deployed." After glancing at his Scroll, he looked back up to Glynda in disbelief after realizing why he was summoned.

"You called me to retrieve another student?" He looked back to team JNPR, exhaled in exasperation and almost stammered as he tried to find the right words.

"Don't get me wrong, I like the kid. It's just that- can't team JNPR go to retrieve him?"

"The locker was launched outside of the city, and all students, once they are officially accepted into the school, are now under our supervision, which means despite their ability to fight, they are unable to leave the city without another Hunter or senior student," She replied to him with a cold stare and walked off to return to her other duties. It was his first "mission" of the school year if you wanted to call it that. Haiiden exhaled, frustrated at this situation and he motioned for JNPR to follow. Haiiden called for a Bullhead in advance as they proceed to leave Beacon.

0-RWBY-0

After about twenty minutes of flight, Haiiden and team JNPR landed right outside the city, and the pilot then apologized and explained that they were unable to fly any further without authorization from the headmaster. She said that they could land as close as they could to a safe zone, but they would have to trek the rest of the way; the VTOL would be available to retrieve them after they brought back their lost teammate.

Once they got off the Bullhead, they began to run through the forests beyond the walls of the city towards the coordinates, with Haiiden leading, weaving around trees with JNPR following, but Nora was just skipping along as she followed. Luckily, they were still within close proximity to the city, so there weren't as many Grimm to deal with, only a few stragglers that seemed to get too curious and strayed away from the larger herds. After dispatching several of them, they continued their way to the coordinates before arriving at their destination, with the locker finally in view amidst a clutch of trees.

The group was still cautious as they approached it, Haiiden's hand on the hilt of his blade as it rested in its sheath, and Pyrrha moved forward with her shield up. Ren was walking with his two pistols ready in hand, while Nora skipped towards the locker and jumped right on top of it, rocket hammer in hand. Her and Jaune's weight made it shift in position, but it didn't topple over; from inside the locker, whimpering could be heard as it was suddenly disturbed.

"Jaune! Jaune, are you alright?" asked Pyrrha as she frantically tried to find a way to open the unit, but the locking mechanism wouldn't open when she input her code.

"Each locker has its own individual code, this could be Cardin's locker; if so we would need his code to open it," Ren pointed out as he put away his pistols, folded his arms as he started to think. Pyrrha stood back, re-configuring her spear into a rifle, and prepared to shoot the lock, when Haiiden suddenly reached out and lowered it.

"You'd risk hitting Jaune with that!" he told her, then pulled out his sword, and held it close to his chest with his right hand pressing against the bottom of the hilt, and aimed.

"Jaune, move to the back-right corner of the locker, please. My back-right, as though you were standing in front of the locker, looking at the door." After a few moments, he lunged forward, the blade penetrated the front of the locker and protruded out the left side. He pulled the blade back and with the lock on the door destroyed, the doors swung open and Jaune fell out with a loud grunt.

Pyrrha immediately went in to help him up, while Nora and Ren stood back and watched. After Haiiden had put his sword back in his sheath, he knelt down to help Jaune up as well. Jaune patted himself down to make sure that he wasn't hurt, then wiped off any dirt and looked to his team, welcoming them with an awkward smile.

"Thanks, guys," he said nervously, while Pyrrha looked over Jaune to make sure there were no injuries, and then glanced over at Haiiden with displeasure. She wondered if that was really the best way to open the locker without hurting him.

"You ok, Jaune?" she asked him again, as she was still concerned for him, even when it was apparent that he was fine, and she put a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye. He just shrugged it off and raised his hand to wave her away.

"What happened?" Haiiden asked with his face expressing anger since they all had to leave to retrieve him, which was a situation that could have been avoided. Everyone else already knew that it was Cardin that forced him into the locker, but Haiiden was wondering why Jaune didn't stand up for himself.

"It's nothing, really," Jaune said as his smile wavered and he looked away a little. Haiiden stared at him for a bit and was beginning to feel frustrated.

"This isn't 'nothing', you have got to deal with punks like Cardin!" Then he thought back on what Zed stated back at the library the night before, that the only way for Cardin to learn was for people like Jaune to stand up to him. Then he started to think about Ozpin's reasons for allowing Jaune to attend the school. There were people who clearly believed in his abilities, otherwise, he wouldn't be here, but he needed to prove that he had earned the opportunity. Then there were also those who would counter that point, like Cecilia. It was true that he didn't know how to fight, and there were people who had come here only to be recognized, like Cardin. After what seemed like hours lost in thought, Haiiden decided to trust Ozpin's decision in allowing him into Beacon as well as Zed's thoughts that he would need to grow on his own and eventually to stand up for himself.

"Jaune, we can't always be there to help you out," he stated as he put a hand on Jaune's shoulder and shook him a little. Pyrrha stepped around to Jaune's right and looked at Haiiden, then back to Jaune.

"You will have to stand up to thugs like Cardin eventually, but will try our best to cover your back in the meantime," he removed his hand from Jaune's shoulder, only to have it replaced by Pyrrha's; she smiled at him warmly and led him back through the forest to the Bullhead.

0-RWBY-0

Back in Glynda's class, Zed looked on at a sparring match between Cardin and a small Faunus girl, who had white ears and a white foxtail, and seething in anger as he watched Cardin's disgusting display. Zed's hair was messed up and was pacing back and forth as he continued watching; his eyes were locked on Cardin as he continued his assault on his opponent. Even when she was down he continued to attack relentlessly. Even when he had already proven that he had won, he just kept going.

Haiiden regretted telling him about what happened with Jaune, and now he seemed to be more upset at Cardin than usual. He didn't like Cardin either, but this was what the school did, gave the strong a chance to show what they had, and allowed those with the potential to grow. This was different, however, and Haiiden couldn't help but look away from the match as Cardin kept knocking his opponent around; despite the number of times she was knocked down, she kept getting back up, unflappable, which Haiiden admired. Cardin went in for a wide, right strike to her stomach which knocked the air out of her and landed her on the floor in a fetal position. The class broke out into groans as if they could feel the hit as well, watching as Cardin approached the Faunus and grabbed her by the hair, propping her on her knees to prepare for a strike to finish the match.

The class gasped as Cardin was about to swing down at the Faunus, with Zed looking on, his eyes glowing with fury, and he tightened his fists in suspense.

"End the match!" he thought to himself at Glynda, shouting in his mind.

"That's enough!" Glynda announced to his relief, and the match was stopped when Glynda grabbed Cardin by the arm and shoved him out of the way. The class clapped when Glynda ended the match, and Zed rushed towards the stage and jumped on it, skipping the stairs entirely. He slowly picked up the Faunus and carried her off the stage, with team HAVC at the bottom waiting to meet them.

"Byeli? You alright?" he asked her with his voice quivering in a mix of anger and concern, she looked up, nodded, and was set down on the floor. Her footing was a little shaky, but she was able to stand on her own.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Zed." She responded quietly and was holding on to his shirt to keep from falling before leaning on Cecilia, who was holding her other arm. Haiiden looked up to notice that Zed's eyes were locked on to him and his hair was messy to the point that you would normally not be able to see his eyes, but the rage in his visage was literally shining through his hair. Haiiden winced as he physically felt Zed's hatred, like a heavy pressure on his chest.

"Wait!" Zed barked out as he noticed Cardin walking off the stage and his voice echoed throughout the classroom. Cardin turned around with a grin to see Zed slowly walking up the stairs and looking him dead in the eye then cracking his knuckles; he then decided to fix his hair as he attempted to regain his composure.

"I see we have a challenger." Glynda pointed out and looked towards Cardin to see if he would accept the challenge.

"What is he doing?" Cecilia asked, however, Haiiden wasn't paying attention as he couldn't help but look at his friend. He had only seen this side of Zed a few times, and each time was scarier than the last. His happy and smiling friend, who was constantly making jokes and flirting, always hid a bit of a monster inside him. Both he and Cecilia knew what he said back at the library the night before that simply taking on Cardin wouldn't work. He was a senior student and it was to be expected that he would be the better fighter, so beating him wouldn't teach him a lesson.

"He wants to prove a different kind of point. This is more for him," Haiiden said as he took Byeli by the hand and guided her back to where HAVC usually stood among the spectators alongside JNPR, who was looking at the stage nervously as Zed just stood there.

"Okay then, ready your weapons," Glynda announced, and Cardin put his mace on his shoulder as he took a few steps forward, then stopped. Zed quietly pulled out a karambit and dropped it on to the floor of the stage and kicked it to the side. Then he rolled up his sleeves while still maintaining eye contact, and when he finished, he raised his hands in the air in a taunting gesture.

"I don't need a weapon to take you. Come on, Cardin, have you got the minerals to face an unarmed man?" he stated at first with a chuckle, then he cracked his neck and shook his arms to loosen up his limbs. He tilted his head to the side and his hair was a mess again, but he still continued to look straight at Cardin. Cardin grinned and nodded, a look of ridicule in his eyes.

"Cardin Winchester has agreed to Zed's challenge," Goodwitch announced to the class, tapping some data into her Scroll. "Zed has agreed to fight without a weapon."

The class laughed when Zed declared that he wouldn't need a weapon; apparently, Cardin had already declared himself the tough guy in the class. Some thought it was funny that someone would try to beat him unarmed, even if it was a senior student. Cardin's smirk widened, and he took a few huge steps forward and pulled back his dominant arm, which held his mace; he used his left arm as a counterweight as he swung for Zed.

Zed stomped his right foot down behind him and pushed himself forward. Sliding on his knees under Cardin's left arm as he swung and jumped up on his feet, spinning to gain momentum and kicked behind Cardin's legs as he was pulling back from his failed attack; Cardin was swept off his feet. As he fell back, Zed then swung his foot back after the kick to act as his own counterweight and brought down his arm for a clothesline onto Cardin's neck, which slammed him down on to the stage floor with a loud "BANG".

Zed then backed away from him and allowed Cardin to get up off the floor. Cardin rolled over and quickly got up, clearly furious now, and he started to hold his mace with both hands and went in for another attack, swinging down right at him again; Zed caught Cardin by his right elbow and guided the strike so that it missed him completely. Then went for a left hook to Cardin's jaw which made him reel to his left, Zed then brought up his left arm again and elbowed him, which made him stand straight once more. Haiiden can hear those who watched remark that he seemed more animal than a person. A madman.

Cardin spun, then staggered a little while holding his cheek, and looked to Zed with surprise, only to see him just stretching his arms out again as he had before, Cardin noticed that Zed seemed even angrier now, breathing heavily through his teeth and his eyes turned from their usual green to a fiery orange.

Out of nowhere, Zed rushed forward, but Cardin was not expecting this sudden attack and tried to counter. Slowly pulling back his arm, Zed kicked away the counter and went for another right hook to Cardin's face, then a jab at the ribs with his left arm. After this assault, Zed grabbed Cardin by the hair with his right hand and forced his head down on to Zed's knee as he brought it up into Cardin's nose, then slammed his palms against Cardin's ears before grabbing his hair again and winding back for another knee to the face.

The fifth knee to his head reeled Cardin back, but towards the edge of the stage. Realizing that Cardin falling off the stage would result in an "out of bounds" victory for Zed, he lunged forward and grabbed Cardin by the collar of his breastplate then threw him back into the sparring zone. He stepped back so that he was a few feet away from Cardin, but still parallel to him, which gave them both equal room in the sparring area. Cardin wheezed as a sharp jab to his ribs knocked the breath out of him; he looked up to Zed with a grin on his face, which only set off Zed even more.

Still, he could see genuine fear in Cardin's eyes, which was good; it wasn't enough to merely beat Cardin: he wanted to see the bastard completely broken. Zed cried out, a bellowing war cry, and rushed forward, jumping up, then striking down on Cardin's head, which forced him back but kept his head low. Zed then uppercut him with his right arm and swung it to the side as a counterweight again for another strike to the ribs with his left fist. The attack made Cardin reel forward again, and Zed took the opportunity to bring down his elbow on to Cardin's head.

Without thinking, Cardin tried to counter and swung wide but was caught, the mace landing on the stage, creating a crater on the wooden floor. Zed opened his left fist and struck Cardin's right elbow with his palm; Zed then kneed him on the bridge of the nose which forced him back, and he was holding his already bloody face. Zed then took hold of Cardin's mace, using its handle to thrust into his gut and causing Cardin to clutch at his stomach.

Zed backed away a little, with some of the students thinking that this is where the match would end, but instead Zed held the mace, like he would a golf club, and skipped to his side and towards Cardin. He gained enough momentum for a massive strike, which went low and brought it upward towards Cardin's head. The force of the assault caused him to stand straight, which left him staggering and dazed. For the final attack, Zed spun the mace as though he was in a hammer throw competition, winding up for a toss, and threw the mace back at Cardin. Having aimed for his chest, the force of the impact knocked him off the stage and against the wall; the wall cracked where Cardin hit it, and he fell to the floor.

"Winner!" Glynda declared, but the crowd didn't clap or cheer as if they were stunned and weren't sure if they should. Zed glared at Cardin as he got up on his hands and knees, the force of the attack and his hitting the wall had dented his breastplate. They all watched him struggle to take it off so that he could breathe. When he did manage to pry off his breastplate, he put a hand on to his knee and took a few deep breaths; looking up with a mixture of fear and rage towards Zed, as he stormed off the stage with a cry of victory and spat upon the ground, in Cardin's direction.

As he returned to his team, some of the students backed away from Zed as he stalked through the group. His hands were still tightened and shook in what seemed to be anger, but Haiiden didn't realize it until after Zed was standing next to him that it wasn't anger that he was feeling now. Instead, it was a cold, empty feeling, with Zed shivering and huddling close to himself. The anger had left his eyes and was then replaced by a look of sadness.

Zed looked to his left to see Byeli looking up at him, afraid of what she had just witnessed and looked away when Zed made eye contact. Haiiden kept looking at Zed, feeling the cold being replaced by a special warmth, the same warmth he had always felt from his friend. He looked down to Byeli to see she was still looking away out of fear, only for her curiosity to win over, and she looked back up. This time to see Zed smiling back at her but not with his usual grin, instead it was a soft and warm smile.

He popped out the fox ears out of his hair, and with a wink, he wiggled them at her.