KS: (breathes heavily) I had a hard time with this what with school work breathing down my neck, but... I pulled through. Now please enjoy it while I go recover.

Ruby and Nora stood in absolute shock. The men that they had demanded that they leave the village immediately. What their reason was for doing so, she wasn't sure. But one part of the sentence got their attention.

"Wait, what did you mean by our kind is not welcome here?" Ruby asked.

The second man let out a scoff. "What, are you an idiot or something? What the boss meant is that we don't take kindly to huntsmen coming here. In other words, we don't trust you no more."

Ruby took offense to the remark and rose out of her seat, giving the man a livid glare.

"What are you talking about?" she snapped. "What reason do you have not to trust us?"

The third chuckled dryly. "Oh, as if you don't know what happened during that massive disaster some people call the Vytal Festival."

Ruby had to grit her teeth to prevent any uneccessary remarks lest she gives the group more ammunition to use against her.

"Let's start with the semi-finals, shall we?" the man asked with a smug grin. "This one girl won against some guy, but for some reason, she decides to blow his leg out. Not very becoming for a huntress, eh boys?"

The men laughed in response, and in doing so, caused Ruby's anger to build up.

"And then, after that fight, there was another tragedy: that girl who got sliced turned out to be an android built by Atlas! Boy, I can almost hear the shocked silence from the crowd... oh wait, I forgot. Nobody could hear the silence because it was silent. Get it?"

They laughed even harder, which did no favors for Ruby's boiling anger.

"And so, the great kingdom of Vale fell to shambles, all of it's so-called protectors either dead or scattered to the wind. All those idiots died for nothing. Makes me wonder why the profession isn't put out to pasture yet."

That was the last straw for Ruby. She had been able to stand those insults, but the last one hit really close to home. She knew better than anyone that many people had perished during the breach and that a close friend of hers was one of them. Hearing the men say that they died for nothing was more than she could handle.

"You know, it's a good thing we aren't huntsmen, huh? We like to do things our way and not be ordered around by-"

The man was cut off when Ruby slammed her cup on the table, spilling most of the tea in the process. Everyone present in the establishment turned to the angry young girl, who was breathing heavily at this point.

"A good friend of mine was killed on that night," she growled. "She died while fighting with everything she had... and all you can do is mock her for it."

She slowly walked towards the man while keeping her angry expression.

"What are you doing that's so important that makes you think you're above her and all those who died in Vale?"

The man stared at her, then turned to each other. Then they turned back to Ruby, who was still fuming.

"Look kid, I don't know where you came from, but you got to understand: being a huntsman is nothing short of a joke. They get it in your head that you can be 'a great hero' or some garbage like that. But here's the thing... huntmen and huntress are nothing more than cannon fodder for those in higher power. They use them to fufill their own and the minute things go south, they let them take the fall and they act like nothing happened. That's why I think being a huntsman is nothing more than a waste of one's time and life."

The other men made sounds of agreement. Ruby just stood their gritting her teeth and clenching her fists. Her face gradually shifted to to the same color of the cloak she wore. She was about to make a heated protest, when all of a sudden...

"If you think that's what being a huntsman is about, then you must not get out very often."

Her would-be rebuttal was cut short by the voice of a young man, sitting at a table near the corner of the shop. He had pale skin, long violet hair and purple eyes. He wore a gray jacket over a purple shirt, black pants and gray boots. He also had three earrings on both of his ears.

"Hey pal," one of the men called out. "You better mind your own business if you know what's good for you."

"Is that right?" the man asked as he moved up from his seat and walked towards the group. "And what if I don't mind my own business?"

The other man cracked his knuckles. "Then you better get used to missing your teeth."

"Heh... you really are a moron, aren't you?"

The man narrowed his eyes. "What was that?"

The violet-haired man poked at his chest. "If you had even the slightest idea about what huntsmen do for the world, you wouldn't be speaking to them that way. They give their lives in the field all to ensure scum like you have a brighter tomorrow." He turned away and put his hands at the back of his head. "But seeing how much of an ignorant moron you are, your future is about as bright as an Ursa."

The man growled at the younger man, angered by his insults. The anger soon gave way to a cruel grin.

"Looks like we got ourselves a comedian here, boys," he said. "How about we show him how we feel about comedy around here?"

The others agreed with him, prepping to fight the man.

"Any last words, punk?"

"Yeah... how can you fight someone you can't catch?"

"What?"

Without any warning, the man quickly disappeared, much to the shock of everyone present, including the small group.

"W-Where did he go?"

"What are you asking me for?"

He soon reappeared behind one of them and delivered a swift kick to his head, knocking him through the window. The remaining men instantly noticed and rushed towards him. They threw every punch at him, but he dodged them all.

"Wow, you're all slow like an Ursa too," he taunted. "I wonder if your brains work at the same speed."

"Why you...!"

They ganged up on him, but he knocked them all away with a spinning kick. He stood on his feet and stretched out.

"I don't think you guys are much of a challenge," he sighed. "This was a waste of my time."

"The only thing that's gonna be wasted is you, ya little bastard."

"Hmm?"

Before the young man could react, a strong force knocked him clear out of the tea shop. Villagers passing by quickly took note of the astounding sight.

"Agh..." he groaned, picking himself up from the rubble. "That really hurt."

"Well, it's gonna hurt a lot more."

He looked to see the leader of the gang, who held a large hammer with a motor attached to it.

"Come on, that's not even fair, man. I had my weapon confiscated."

The man scoffed. "That's not my problem. Now, time you got hammered."

"That was the worst one-liner I've ever heard. Can't you use something more original?"

The man growled and powered up his hammer as he charged towards the younger man, who still looked bored.

"Whatever. This was over before it started."

As the hammer-wielder charged toward him, ready to strike him down, the younger man clenched his fist and drew it back. And when his would-be attacker came within striking distance...

"Checkmate."

He punched him right in his face, knocking him back into the tea shop, widening the hole that was formed when he knocked through. As he saw the whole, he sighed while scratching his head.

"Man... it's a good thing I've got the paper to pay for the damage or I'd be screwed."

He heard heavy breathing coming from the right of him. He turned to see Ruby, who was staring at him with widened eyes and a mouth to match.

"You know, you've catch flies if you keep your mouth like that too long," he deadpanned.

Ruby, who was still in her awestruck state, registered his words for a few seconds, then quickly shook her head, bringing her back.

"Wow... you were so cool!"

The man was taken aback. "Say again?"

"You took those guys on without a weapon like it was no big deal and then the guy with hammer knocked you clear out of the shop and then..."

She was talking too fast for him to understand. So, he did the one thing he could think of.

He covered her mouth so that what ever she was saying came out in muffled speech.

"Why don't we start by introducing ourselves?" he asked. "And please, keep it at normal speeds."

He slowly removed his hand, hoping that she would speak at a normal pace. Much to his relief, she did.

"I'm Ruby Rose. And you are...?"

"Lilac," he replied. "Christian Lilac. Call me by my last name."

Ruby tilted her head. "Why do you want to be called by your last name?"

"Because I've been called by my last time for as long as I can remember. I'm used to it, so just call me that, alright?"

Ruby didn't completely understand, but she decided to go along with it.

"Okay. Nice to meet you... Lilac."

"Yeah, the feeling's mutual," he replied. "So what brings you to this village?"

"We're staying here to rest for a bit," Ruby explained. "Once we've gotten some supplies, we'll be on our way to Mistral."

Lilac's eyes widened. "Mistral? What a coincidence. I happen to be from Mistral."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If you want, I can show you around."

Ruby grinned. "That's great! Let me get my friends and I'll introduce you to them."

She dashed off, leaving a trail of rose petals behind her. Lilac watched in intrigue.

"Ruby Rose, huh? Looks like I found who I was looking for."

Lilac began to walk alongside the trail of petals with a smirk.

"If all goes well, she can help me out on something big."

KS: (drinks water) That's better. Oh, right. That was my OC, Christian Lilac. I originally made him (sort of) on my DA account, so I will find some time to make a profile out of him. Although, you gotta wonder what kind of plans he has in store and how he intends to involve Ruby in them... all in due time, I guess.